Ukraine heads up as EU's major corn importer: opinion
Ukraine will remain one of the front-runners in supplying corn to the European Union, argued the Head of Research at Cefetra Harm de Wilde at the UkrAgroConsult international conference Black Sea Grain-2021.
He noted that this season corn imports to the EU will be around 14-15 mln t. Besides, a decrease in supplies of the crop is forecast for next year in the EU due to the competitiveness of wheat versus corn. The forecast for next season's imports is 12-13 mln t of corn.
"I assume Ukraine will be an important factor for the European segment of corn imports. This season, Ukraine's exports have come to around 8-9 mln t of grain, which is quite a large volume. The EU market is very large and Ukraine is a big producer of corn, so from this point of view the EU needs grain imports from Ukraine," the expert said.
As per USDA's outlook for corn production in Ukraine in the 2021/22 season, the output is projected to reach 37.5 mln t, 24% up YoY.