Feed wheat price gap may widen to UAH 1,000/t due to poor harvest — analyst

In western Ukraine, where this year’s harvest is taking place between rainfalls, cases of smut are becoming more widespread. Previously, this issue was mostly observed in Rivne, Volyn, and parts of Khmelnytskyi regions, but it has now also been detected in Vinnytsia, according to Igor Turkovskyi, Head of Grain and Oilseeds Procurement at Brooklyn-Kyiv LLC.

“There’s also a risk for Kyiv region, which has suffered from excess moisture. If the current weather persists, we’ll face not only smut but also a lot of sprouted grain with a low falling number — and that’s pure feed wheat, which may not even be suitable for blending with milling wheat for export,” said Turkovskyi.

According to him, if food-grade wheat cannot be harvested in the western regions and most of the crop turns out to be feed quality, the price gap between these categories will continue to widen.

“Two weeks ago, the price difference between feed wheat and exportable class 3 wheat was around UAH 200/t. Now the gap — even with 11.0% protein — has reached UAH 400–500/t or more. I believe it may soon grow to UAH 800–1,000/t,” Turkovskyi added.