Agriculture

According to the Ukrainian Agrarian Association (UAA), Ukraine’s grain exports reached 1.8 mln mt in May. In particular, traders exported 0.97 mln mt of wheat, 0.66 mln mt of corn and 0.15 mln mt of barley.

The US Department of Agriculture decreased its estimates on Ukraine’s harvest in the 2009/10 marketing year by 27.5% YoY to 38.6 mln mt of grain. According to the USDA, Ukraine will harvest 19 mln mt of mill quality grain and 19.7 mln mt of fodder grain. Consequently, Ukraine’s wheat and barley exports will shrink to 7 mln mt and 5.7 mln mt respectively.

The Government of Ukraine has finally allocated UAH 2.2 bln (USD 0.3 bln) from the Stabilization Fund for agrarian needs. In particular, UAH 800 mln (USD 104.8 mln) will be directed for reimbursing bank interest, whereUAH 120 mln (USD 15.7 mln) is specified for the reimbursement of loans attracted by farmers for implementing innovation projects.

As of May 15, 2009, 88.9% of the winter crop in Ukraine is either in good or satisfactory condition. According to an official statement made by the Ministry of Agriculture, 54.1% (5.3 mln ha) of the crop is in good condition, and 34.8% (3.4 mln ha) is in satisfactory condition.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY] posted its unaudited 1Q09 financial and operational results on its web-site. The company increased its revenues by 55.2% YoY to UAH 233.8 mln (USD 30.6 mln), EBITDA shrank by 36.4% YoY to UAH 41.2 mln (USD 5.4 mln) and net income shriveled to UAH 9.6 (USD 1.3 mln).

Yesterday Kernel [KER PW, BUY] released its unaudited financial results for 3Q 08/09 and consolidated unaudited financial results for 9M 08/09. Key highlights for 9M 08/09: net revenues increased by 75% YoY to USD 865.9 mln, EBIT expanded by 107% YoY and net income jumped by 183% YoY to USD 113.8 mln.

As of May 8, 2009 Ukraine had exported a total of 23.79 mln mt of grain during the 2009 marketing year. This includes 7.73 mln mt of mill wheat, 6.0 mln mt of forage wheat ,4.6 mln mt of corn and 5.3 mln mt of barley . Moreover, as of May 8, 2009 Ukraibe had exported 0.6 mln mt of sunflower seeds and 2.6 mln mt of rape seeds.

MCB Agricole [4GW1 GR, BUY], the holding company for Ukrzernoprom Agro, received USD 2 mln as a prepayment for the export of 12 thsd mt of winter rapeseeds to be shipped in July– August 2009. Terms of supply - SPT Black Sea port. Mr. Leng, the General Director of the company, stated, “Despite the inoperative banking system and credit crunch, our company is succeeding in attracting the funds we need via forward contracts.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY], the top sugar producer in Ukraine, with market share of 15%, posted its audited annual results for 2008. Key highlights: net revenues increased by 3.5% YoY to USD 126.1 mln (UAH970.7 mln +50% YoY); EBITDA denominated in USD decreased by 30% YoY and amounted to USD 30 mln (UAH223.5 mln +4.5% YoY). Astarta posted a net loss of USD 9.9 mln.

According to the Ministry of agriculture in Ukraine sugar beet harvest will be increased in the 2009/10 marketing year and expected at 16.5 mln mt. In the 2009 planned cultivated area with sugar beets slightly shrunk by 0.5% YoY.