Agricultural trade between Ukraine and EU decreased by 5.1% in H1 2020

In January-June 2020, the volume of agricultural trade between Ukraine and the European Union decreased by 5.1% to USD 4.6 billion.

According to the National Scientific Centre "Institute of Agrarian Economics" (IAE), out of the total agricultural trade turnover between Ukraine and the EU, USD 3.0 billion accounted for exports and USD 1.6 billion - for imports.

Ukraine’s largest trading partners in the EU are the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Their combined share in the agricultural trade turnover is about 75%.

In the first half of 2020, Ukraine provided the main volumes of supplies to the European Union with grains (USD 1088 million) and oilseeds (USD 145 million), oils and fats (USD 957 million), food-industry residues and waste (USD 227 million).

The IAE noted that there is no clearly defined commodity structure in imports to Ukraine from European countries. To a greater extent, in January-June 2020, Ukraine purchased dairy products (for USD 131 million), alcoholic beverages (USD 130 million), tobacco products (USD 130 million), animal feed products (USD 106 million) and various food products, including extracts of coffee, tea, sauces (USD 150 million).

Since the beginning of 2020, domestic exporters have fully reached the annual quotas for honey, barley grits and flour, refined starch, canned tomatoes, apple and grape juices.

In general, for Ukraine, indicators of foreign agricultural trade with the EU worsened in the first half of 2020.  However, in the third and fourth quarters, there are likely noticeable shifts in trade volumes, which will depend on the harvest in the new season.

As Ukrinform reported, exports of Ukrainian agricultural products in January-June 2020 increased by just USD 0.1 billion to USD 10.4 billion compared to the same period last year.

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