KYIV: Ukrainian wheat export prices have lost $20 a tonne in the past week due to a fall in demand and good prospects for the 2021 wheat harvest, APK-Inforn agriculture consultancy said on Monday.

The government has said favourable weather could help farmers increase their grain crop to 75 million tonnes this year from about 65 million tonnes in 2020.

Asking prices for high-quality soft milling wheat decreased to $254 to $260 a tonne FOB Black Sea port, it said.

Feed wheat fell to $249-$256 FOB Black Sea.

Ukraine sold about 57 million tonnes of grain to foreign buyers in the 2019/20 season, while the government has said exports could decline to 45.7 million tonnes in 2020/21 because of a weaker harvest.

Ukraine’s grain exports have fallen by 22.7% to 34.73 million tonnes so far this season, which runs from July 2020 to June 2021, economy ministry data showed on Friday.

Traders have used 81% of the total wheat export quota of 17.5 million tonnes imposed for the whole 2020/21 July-June season, exporting 14.22 million tonnes of wheat so far.

APK-Inform said corn export prices lost up to $7 a tonne to $260-$265 FOB, while prices for Ukrainian-origin barley decreased by $6 and was offered at $248 to $255 per tonne FOB Black Sea.