Ukraine-EU trade turnover boosted 23 pct in Jan-June

In January-June 2019, agricultural trade turnover between Ukraine and the European Union surged by 23% to USD 4.8 billion, the National Scientific Center Institute of Agrarian Economics of NAAS reports.

The following groups of products dominate the export structure:

• grains — USD 1.57 billion;
• oilseeds — USD 187 million;
• sunflower oil — USD 684 million;
• cake — USD 293 million;
• meat products — USD 104 million.

"Simultaneous growth in exports and imports led to an increase in Ukraine's trade balance of USD 1.9 billion vs. the first half of 2018," commented Nikolai Pugachev, deputy director of the National Scientific Center Institute of Agrarian Economics, NAAS.

Six countries remain the largest trade partners for Ukraine in the EU: the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Poland, Germany and France. Their aggregate share accounts for 72% of the agricultural products trade turnover, the expert said.

As previously reported, USDA experts cut the forecast for world wheat production in 2019/20 by 3.3 million tons to 768.07 million tons, while the previous season's forecast was 37.52 million tons higher (2018/19: 730.5 million tons).