Ukraine's grain harvest likely to rise 11 percent

ProAgro agriculture consultancy said on Thursday Ukraine's 2011 grain harvest was likely to rise 11 percent to 44.15 million tonnes. The consultancy forecast an increase in the Ukrainian wheat and maize harvests while projecting a significant fall in the barley output. ProAgro said Ukraine's barley harvest could total 7.43 million tonnes this year while the maize crop could be about 15.47 million tonnes.
But Ukraine's leading grain firm Nibulon said in a statement the maize harvest could reach a record 15.5-16.0 million tonnes this year, or 30 percent more than in 2010. Nibulon also projected that the harvest of wheat could total 16.8-17.0 million tonnes. It said barley output would be around 7.2-7.5 million tonnes.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said this week that the ex-Soviet republic would harvest no less than 40 million tonnes of grain this year. He told Reuters in an interview that a rise in the harvest would allow Ukraine to export around 15 million tonnes of grain in the 2011/12 season compared to about 11 million in 2010/11.
But ProAgro said exports could reach 20.8 million tonnes thanks to high grain stocks. The consultancy said the volume could include 8.45 million tonnes of wheat, 3.35 million of barley and 8.65 million of maize.