Ministry of Economy announces grain export forecast

The Ministry of Economy announced a grain export forecast for the year at a level of over 40 million tons, and indicated a desire to transition from grain exports to products with higher added value, UNN reports.

Approximately 14 million tons of wheat, 25 million tons of corn, and 1.52 million tons of barley – this is how much, according to preliminary estimates, Ukraine can export in the 2025/26 marketing year. This represents roughly 6%, 12%, and 4% of global exports of these crops, respectively

At the same time, it was noted that it is currently important for Ukraine to create more value within the country.

"Our task is to create more value within the country. We already have strong examples: sunflower oil and meal, where Ukraine maintains powerful positions, as well as bioethanol, the export of which has nearly tripled since the start of the full-scale war," noted Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Vysotsky.

Addendum

As of June 2, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, farmers have already sown 97% of the planned areas, or 5.84 million hectares of grain and leguminous crops.

According to the latest NBU forecasts, harvests in Ukraine in 2026 will differ only slightly from last year's. The harvest of grain and leguminous crops is expected at 62.9 million tons (unchanged compared to the previous forecast). At the same time, assumptions regarding the oilseed harvest have been slightly downgraded to 20.2 million tons.

Despite expectations of a higher sunflower harvest, a significant reduction in soybean and rapeseed harvests is projected due to damage to some crops and a decrease in the area planted with the latter.

The effect on prices from the revision of these assumptions is assessed as neutral. The increase in fertilizer prices caused by the war in the Middle East will not have a significant impact on yields in 2026, as farmers formed the necessary stocks in advance, the NBU noted.