Agriculture

According to Ukranews, as of October 3, 2008 Ukraine’s agricultural farms harvested an overall amount of 45.43 mln mt of grain and leguminous plants. According to Ukranews, as of October 3, 2008 Ukraine’s agricultural farms harvested an overall amount of 45.43 mln mt of grain and leguminous plants.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY], a vertically integrated agricultural holding, is going to build silo facilities with a total storage capacity of 0.2-0.25 mln mt of grain by the end of 2011.

The Kernel Group [KER PW, U/R], one of the country’s leading bulk oil and grain trading companies with vertically-integrated assets, has announced its plans to finish building its fourth oil processing plant.

According to Interfax, Landkom [LKI LN, N/R], an international agricultural company with land assets in Ukraine, has increased its land bank in Ukraine by 15% to 115 thsd ha.

Ukrros, a Ukrainian sugar producer, released an official press release on Tuesday, in which it announced plans to expand its share on the domestic market by 10 pp to 20%.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY] has signed an agreement with Coca-Cola Beverages Ukraine to supply the company with sugar for the next three years.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY] and Ukrros [UROS UZ, N/R], the top Ukrainian sugar producing companies, have announced the beginning of their sugar production campaigns.

The Kernel Group [KER PW, N/R], a bulk oil and grain trader, plans to attract a USD 225 mln loan from a Europe-based bank.

According to Reuters, the world could possibly face a sugar deficit in the 2008/09 marketing year, which would amount to 3.3 mln mt versus profits of 9.4 mln mt in 2007/08 marketing year.

The Ministry of Economy drafted new regulations for the Ukrainian government on soft commodity exports in 2008/2009.