Large and medium-sized Ukrainian agriculture companies had 13.2 million tonnes of grain, including 5.2 million tonnes of wheat, in stocks as of January 1, 2005, the State Statistics Committee said on Tuesday. The committee said companies had about eight million tonnes of grain, including about two million tonnes of wheat, at the same date a year ago. The committee's figure does not include grain held by small agriculture firms and single producers.

This year, the committee said Ukraine harvested a record 41.7 million tonne of grain, including 17.5 million tonnes of wheat, in 2004 compared with 20.2 million tonnes of grain, including 3.6 million tonnes of wheat, in 2003.

The government has said an increase in crop size will allow Ukraine to increase grain exports to up to 12 million tonnes in the 2004/05 July-June season compared to 2.8 million in 2003/04.

Copyright Reuters, 2005