KYIV- High demand from importers and limited supply from growers have pushed up prices for Ukrainian corn by $18-$25 a tonne over the past several days, the APK-Inform agriculture consultancy said on Wednesday.

The consultancy said corn bid prices had risen to $236-$275 a tonne by Oct. 28 on a carriage-paid-to (CPT) basis.

"The main support for prices is provided by high competition between export-oriented and processing companies ... as well as a decrease in the assessment of corn production in Ukraine in the current season," APK-Inform said.

The consultancy said on Tuesday that it had cut its forecast for the 2020 Ukrainian corn harvest to 33.8 million tonnes from 34.8 million tonnes because of poor weather. 

The economy ministry this week said it had kept its corn crop outlook unchanged at 33 million tonnes and expected exports at 26 million tonnes in the 2020/21 season.

It said farmers had harvested 14.5 million tonnes of corn from 3.07 million hectares, or 56% of the sown area, as of Oct. 26.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk Editing by David Goodman ) ((pavel.polityuk@tr.com; +380 44 2449150; Reuters Messaging: pavel.polityuk.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))