Ukraine's combined grain and oilseed crop in 2024 is likely to shrink to 76.1 million tonnes, down from 82.6 million tonnes last year and well below the pre-war 107 million tonnes, representatives of the Ukrainian Trade Union said of grain UGA

According to them, the harvest could include 26.3 million tons of corn, 20 million tons of wheat and 13.7 million tons of sunflower seeds.

Ukraine was a major global producer and exporter of grain and oilseeds, but its output fell after the war began in February 2022.

Ukraine had a record crop of cereals and oilseeds of about 107 million tons in 2021, including 85 million tons of various cereals and 16.4 million tons of sunflower.

"The potential fall in the harvest in the new season will be caused by a reduction in acreage, mainly with cereals, due to unfavorable global price conditions and relatively expensive export logistics," argued the UGA.

So are expectations for the new season's corn crop, again due to a potential contraction in acreage occupied by the crop.

"Farmers are suffering losses because of too low purchase prices for the crop, driven by the decline in world prices," says UGA's t.

Ukraine's agriculture ministry announced last month that farmers may cut the area planted to corn by about 9 percent in 2024.

UGA says soybeans will be the "only crop" where farmers can increase acreage due to its profitability this year.

The union said the lower output could push total exports for 2024/25 July-June down to 43.7 million tonnes from the 53.1 million tonnes expected for the current season.

UGA said exports for 2024/25 could include 20.5 million tonnes of maize, 13 million tonnes of wheat, 4 million tonnes of soybeans, 3.6 million tonnes of canola seed and some tonnage of other oilseeds and grains.