OFI March/April 2022

UKRAINE/RUSSIA NEWS

Spring crops face major challenge The Ukrainian planting season is expected to be heavily impacted by the Russian invasion of the country, with spring crops facing major challenges, AgriCensus reported on 16 March. Although around 80% of farmers had enough supplies of inputs, a shortage of oil – specifically diesel – was a major problem. Another concern was that farmers might not be able to reach land for planting due to conflict zones or areas occupied by the Russian army. With corn, sunflower, soyabean and spring rapeseed planting usually starting at the end of April and running through to June, there was still some time to carry out planting should the war come to an end, AgriCensus wrote. Currently, the

Ukraine would require traders to obtain export licenses for wheat, corn and sunflower oil, among other agricultural commodities, with the country’s state-run railway saying it would move those exports by rail, Reuters reported on 6 March. The country normally exported its grain, vegetable oils and other food products by ship, but the country’s Black Sea ports had been closed because of Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian Railways said it was ready to organise “agricultural products delivery by rail urgently” and that it could transport grain to borders with Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, from where it could be delivered to ports and logistics hubs of European countries, the Reuters report said. Meanwhile, the government had also banned the export of essential products and limited grain exports following, AgriCensus wrote on 7 March. The measures restrict exports of essential goods such as buckwheat, rye, sugar, millet, oats, salt, live cattle and the meat and other sub-products of of cattle. 4 OFI – MARCH/APRIl 2022

General News March.April 2022.indd 2

area relatively unscathed by the Russian invasion to date – are expected to increase their planted area for this year, AgriCensus reported on 17 March. According to data from the Department of Agro-Industrial Development, sown areas under spring grains, legumes and oilseeds in 2022 will increase by at least 2%, with the total area including winter crops reaching 706,300 ha. Last year’s gross grain and legume harvest in the Lviv region amounted to 1.8M tonnes and 540,000 tonnes of oilseeds. Meanwhile, the government had introduced a measure to help ensure adequate food supplies by exempting key agriculture sector employees from military operations during the harvest period, AgriCensus wrote on 7 March.

EU faces sun oil, rapeseed shortage Bombed and blockaded ports, an export freeze and failure to make sowings for this year's harvest are likely to considerably cut Ukraine sunflower oil supply to the EU in the current crop year, Germany's Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP) said on 10 March. EU imports of sunflower oil during 2020/21 totalled around 1.7M tonnes, of which 1.5M tonnes (around 88%), came from Ukraine, UFOP reported Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft as saying. In the current 2021/22 crop year, the EU27 imported around 1.27M tonnes of sunflower oil until the end of February, of which some 1.09M tonnes came from Ukraine, a market share of 86%. Ukraine was the top sunflower oil exporter to the EU, followed by Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the UK. UFOP said if imports from Ukraine were to stop completely and in the medium term, the EU would face a serious supply problem The war in Ukraine would also significantly affect global rapeseed supply, UFOP said on 17 March EU rapeseed imports in 2019/20 season

1.5 1.7

EU sunflower oil imports until 34th week of 2021/22 according to origin countries 2.3

2

1.8

1.5 1.4

From Ukraine

Ukraine 86%

1.7

1.4 1.6

EU27 sunflower oil imports (million tonnes) 6.5

2 From Ukraine 2.7

0.8

Total

1.9

4.2

1.7

4.3

6.0

EU rapeseed imports until 34th week of 2021/22 according to origin countries

Ukraine 50% 4.8

Ukraine 86%

EU27 rapeseed imports (million tonnes) totalled 6M tonnes, of which around 2.7M tonnes (45%) came from Ukraine. In the past crop year, Ukraine's share of imports fell to 2M tonnes (31%). EU27 rapeseed imports in the current crop year until the end of February 2022 amounted to 3.23M tonnes,

Source: European Commission, Eurostat

IN BRIEF

regions most affected by fighting were the land around Kyiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv, where Russian troops were actively engaged in military operations, the report said. In the worst-case scenario, where all the impacted areas would not be available to complete spring sowing – the total volume could amount to 36% of total corn production, 48% for spring barley, 24% for soyabeans and 44% for sunflower, AgriCensus wrote. While there was no official forecast, local media had reported deputy agriculture minister Taras Vysotskiy as saying that spring sowings would be completed on 50% of planned areas. Meanwhile, farmers in the region around the city of Lviv in western Ukraine – an

with Ukraine supplying the largest share by far (50% or around 1.6M tonnes). If imports from Ukraine were to stop completely and in the long term due to blockaded ports, the supply situation would likely tighten significantly, both within the EU-27 and globally. www.ofimagazine.com

23/03/2022 10:18:58