Miller Magazine Issue 137 May 2021

93 Country Profile MILLER / may 2021 May is a key month for new crop forecasts, as exactly in this month the USDA gathers all local expectations in one global table, which influences the price trend. Ukraine so far promises to offer the second biggest in its history or even a new record crop to the world in 2021. As per latest update of the Ministry of Agriculture, the total grain area 2021 is likely to total 15.5 mln ha vs. 15.2 mln ha last year, including 7.6 mln ha of spring grains. Mild winter, low winterkill, rainy spring could help farmers increase the grain crop to 75 MMT this year from 65 MMT in 2020, as per the AgMin. The Min- istry of Agriculture sees grain export 2021/22 at 50-53 MMT vs. 45.4 MMT expected for the current season. Herewith, harvesting campaign could start a little bit later than usual, as this year's spring planting started a few weeks later compared to the previous year due to a lingering cold weather in most regions of the country. Of course, all will depend on May and June weather development. As of 29 April, 2021 Ukrainian farmers planted 1.1 mln ha of corn (20% out of 5.33 mln ha), 168 KHA of spring wheat (95% of 176.6 KHA plan) and 1.28 Ukraine: Record crops? Cosmoprices! Christina Serebryakova Agricultural Commodities Broker Head of Analytical Department