Export problems push farmers to sell soybeans and rapeseed to processors in Ukraine

Soybean and rapeseed producers in Ukraine face difficulties in exporting due to the incompletely regulated procedure for duty-free export. To export, customs requires farmers to pay a 10% “guarantee payment”, which they promise to return after 30 days, and to obtain a CCI opinion, farmers must provide about 12 documents. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry limits the maximum yield for calculations to 3.5 t/ha, which creates additional difficulties in confirming the volume of the grown crop.

Such restrictions and bureaucratic procedures discourage farmers from exporting, so most of them increasingly sell soybeans and rapeseed to Ukrainian processing enterprises. Currently, processors offer 16,500–17,000 UAH/t for GM soybeans, and 18,500–18,700 UAH/t for non-GM soybeans with delivery to the factory. Analysts note that the interest of processors in purchases is growing, while the number of active exporters is decreasing.

As of October 9, 2.7 million tons of soybeans have already been threshed from 56% of the areas in Ukraine with a yield of 2.28 t/ha, which is significantly less than last year’s indicators. It is expected that dry weather in the coming days will allow farmers to accelerate the harvesting of soybeans and sunflowers, which will increase supplies on the domestic market and may intensify competition among processors.

Tags: export, prices, soybean, rapeseed