Agrarian exports amounted to USD 8.6 billion in the first half of 2018

According to the press office of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Ukrainian agrarian exports revenue amounted to USD 8.6 billion in January-June 2018. This was stated by Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on European Integration Olga Trofimtseva.

The overall foreign trade turnover of agricultural products reached $ 11.3 billion, which is 3.5% more than in the same period in 2017 and makes up 23% of the total foreign trade turnover of Ukraine.

"According to the results of the first half of 2018, Ukrainian agricultural exports amounted to USD 8.6 billion. Last year, Ukrainian agricultural exports reached record results and amounted to almost USD 18 billion. This year we expect no less, given the market conditions for such goods as cereals," mentioned Olga Trofimtseva.

According to the Deputy Minister, the leading goods of Ukrainian agricultural exports remain:

• cereals – with a share of 36.8%;
• vegetable oils – 26.2%;
• oilseed crops – 7.5%.

In the first half of the year, the following groups showed the highest growth rates of exports:

• bird eggs – by 2.1 times (by USD 27.7 million);
• apples, pears, and quince – by 5.3 times (by USD 6.7 million);
• leguminous vegetables, shelled or unshelled – by 58.3 times (USD11 million);
• butter and other milk fats– by 65.2% (by USD 29.2 million) and others.

According to Ms. Trofimtseva, the regional structure of Ukrainian agrarian exports has not changed:

1. Asian countries hold a share of 43.2%;
2. Countries of the European Union – 30.4%;
3. African countries – 14.6%.

Reference: in 2017, agriculture, forestry, and fishing businesses achieved 22.7% profitability against 8.9% in the Ukrainian economy as a whole.