Ukraine's grain, oilseed harvest to drop by 8.5 pct this year: forecast

KYIV -- Ukraine's combined grain and oilseed harvest is expected to stand at 68 million tons this year, down about 8.5 percent from 2022, as shown in a recent forecast released on Thursday.

The forecast by the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) suggested that this year's harvest will be 36 percent lower than the 2021 yield of about 106 million tons.

Ukraine will sow about 19.5 million hectares of farmland this year, down from 25 million hectares in the previous years, the UGA said.

The association projected that Ukraine will export 56.4 million tons of grain and oilseed in the current marketing year that ends on June 30 if the grain corridor continues functioning.

The forecast predicts that Ukraine has the potential to export 43.9 million tons of crops in the 2023-2024 marketing year.