KYIV- Ukraine's grain exports have fallen 16.4% to 15 million tonnes so far in the season that runs from July 2020 to June 2021 due to a lower corn shipments, the economy ministry said on Tuesday.
Traders sold 1.54 million tonnes of corn compared with 3.59 million tonnes on the same date last year. Wheat exports fell to 10.1 million tonnes from 10.9 million.
Grain traders and the government have agreed the volume of wheat available for export this season must not exceed 17.5 million tonnes in a bid to ensure local needs and prevent export restrictions.
The economy ministry said on Monday it was not planning to review the quota despite high pace of wheat exports.
It said traders had used more than 57% of the quota so far the 2020/21 season.
Ukraine, which accounts for about 16% of global grain exports, sold about 57 million tonnes of grain to foreign buyers in the 2019/20 season.
The government has said exports could decline to 47.4 million tonnes in 2020/21 because of a weaker harvest.
The economy ministry expects the 2020 grain crop to fall to about 68 million tonnes from 2019's record of 75.1 million tonnes because of adverse weather.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Mike Harrison) ((pavel.polityuk@tr.com; +380 44 2449150; Reuters Messaging: pavel.polityuk.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
