Miller Magazine Issue 109 / January 2019

18 MILLER / JANUARY 2019 The Black Sea region plays an increasingly substantial role in the world wheat arena. In the past season 2017/18, the Black Sea countries (Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan) met roughly 35% of the world’s demand for wheat. The first half of the season has ended, and its export results allow making quite optimistic forecasts. In the first six months, according to UkrAgroConsult’s estima- tes, the three countries shipped abroad some 39 MMT of wheat (including flour in grain equivalent). This is up 5% year-on-year and 25%more than in the same period in MY 2016/17. For Ukraine, four out of the five top destinations are distant. The ranking looks as follows: Indonesia, Philip- pines, and South Korea. Meanwhile, Egypt, Bangladesh, Thailand and India have reduced purchases of Ukrainian grain this season compared with the previous one. In ad- dition, Ukrainian exporters managed to offset the loss of the Indian market, which was the biggest consumer of Ukrainian wheat in the 2016/17 season: India has been replaced with other major buyers, also mostly Asian ones. Dr. Sergey Feofilov General Director, Ph.D, UkrAgroConsult Black Sea region to continue enhancing its position in the world arena “The latter half of the current marketing year promises no surprises because the Black Sea region has already realized the lion’s share of its export potential. More interesting is to look into the next season 2019/20. Quite mild winters observed in recent years along with the use of up-to-date growing practices gives every reason to believe that the Black Sea region will not only get another good wheat crop but also sell it at good prices.” Guest Author