Ukraine postpones immediate grain export quotas

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine does not plan to introduce quotas on grain exports in the immediate future, Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine Mykola Prysiazhniuk said Wednesday before the Cabinet's meeting.

Asked by reporters whether the government would introduce quotas for the 2010/11 season as had been announced earlier, Prysyazhnyuk said "not yet" .

"This issue is not on the agenda of today's Cabinet meeting," he told reporters.

The possibility of introducing export quotas will depend on the volume of exports, the minister added later.

It was earlier reported that the Cabinet was considering the introduction of quotas in the amount of 1 million tons for barley and 1.5 million tons for wheat by the end of 2010 due to fears of a domestic food shortage.

Ukraine, one of the world's top grain exporters, had exported about 3.0 million tones of grain this marketing year (July 2010/June 2011), including about 700,000 tonnes in July, while the figure was a total of 4.0 million tones in July-August 2009.

Ukraine's grain harvests have been hit by severe frosts in the winter and a torrid summer.

Meanwhile, analysts said the main factor that stabilized the world grain market is improving of weather conditions in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan which create normal conditions for planting of winter grains.
(Source:xinhua)