Ukrainian agricultural exports, already facing lower market liquidity ahead of the winter holiday period and unfavourable stormy weather affecting Black Sea ports, could be further squeezed this month after new export rules were introduced on 1 December, according to market participants.
Ukraine exported only about 1.14mn t of the main grains — wheat, barley and corn — in the first half of December, according to Ukrainian customs data. This is well below the 2.43mn t exported in the same period last year.
Ukrainian exporters shipped 213,000t of wheat, 37,000t of barley and 875,000t of corn on 1-16 December, compared with 763,000t, 108,000t and 1.56mn t, respectively, in the same period last year.
Market participants told Argus that at least some of them faced complications and confusion with documentation after the government introduced a value-added tax export guarantee regime for exporting certain types of goods (agricultural products) outside the customs territory of Ukraine from 1 December and for the period of martial law.
The new rules and complications with export documentation led to logistical problems, shipment delays and penalties from shipowners in early December, according to market participants. In this context, Ukraine's full December agricultural exports are likely to fall from last year's levels. Market participants said from January onwards, that they expect the new export registration process to become more streamlined and simplified, making it easier for exporters to ship their products.
