Ukraine's grain exports could have been at 6.0 million tonnes in the first two months of the 2011/12 season but export duties had reduced shipments to about 2.0 million tonnes, the head of Ukraine's grain traders' union UZA said on Friday. "Ukraine's grain exports are just a third of the volume of Russian shipments. Ukraine is losing its markets," UZA quoted its director Volodymyr Klymenko as saying.
"The government decision on duties had been adopted without any calculations". The Agriculture Ministry last month asked the government to cancel the duties, introduced in July to replace last year's export quotas, instituted to protect home markets after severe drought. The government is reluctant to end grain export duties because it would lose valuable revenues.
The Economy Ministry says it is considering an extension of the duties for the second half of this season. Export duty on wheat is 9 percent but no less than 17 euros ($24.30) per tonne. Export duty on barley is 14 percent and no less than 23 euros per tonne. Export duty on maize is 12 percent and no less than 20 euros. Farm Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk told Reuters this week that a high grain harvest in 2011, the second largest in the past 20 years, allowed Ukraine to boost exports this season but that export duties prevent a jump in shipments.
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