New crop wheat in Ukraine has a very low proportion of high protein grain

According to SGS, which annually compiles the quality map of grains and oilseeds in Ukraine, this year wheat showed a significant decrease in the average protein and crude gluten content.

Thus, in 80% of 424 wheat samples collected from farms in 21 regions of Ukraine, the average protein content was 10.96% and crude gluten was 18.5%, while last year these figures were 11.8% and 21.6%, respectively. This was the worst protein content since 2008 and the lowest gluten content since 2011.

At the same time, only 36.8% of the tested batches from the 2023 harvest meet the requirements of importers, in particular Indonesia, one of the world’s largest wheat buyers, in terms of protein content (55.8% in 2022), and only 6.6% in terms of the overall set of quality indicators (21.3% in 2022).

In general, the analysis of the samples shows the following distribution of wheat of this year’s harvest by class: Grade 1-3 – 25.2% (39.2% in 2022), Grade 4 – 41.3% (36.9%), and non-grade – 33.5% (27.2%). The analysis of the samples taken in the northern and western regions of Ukraine, where the quality is somewhat better, has not yet been completed. However, given the share of the harvest in these regions, it will not significantly affect the distribution by class and the average values of individual indicators.

The wheat harvest in Ukraine is estimated at 21.5 mln tons, which is 4% higher than in 2022. However, given the preliminary estimates of quality and milling quality (the share of samples that meet the indicators of contracts for delivery to Indonesia), even with the improvement in the overall situation due to the harvest in the northern and western regions, only 10% of wheat will be of the appropriate quality.

This means that only 2.15 mln tons of wheat from this year’s harvest will be suitable for the production of high-quality flour, which, with domestic wheat consumption at 3.1 mln tons, will create a supply deficit of 0.95 mln tons.

Tags: flour, Ukraine