Ukraine, which has been boosting its soyabean output in the last few years, is likely to expand the area sown for soya in 2013 by 20 to 25 percent, Agriculture Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk said on Wednesday. "We could add 20-25 percent next year and will increase the area in the future because everybody understands how important and profitable soya planting is," Prysyazhnyuk told Reuters.

Ukraine harvested 2.3 million tonnes of soyabean from 1.3 million hectares this year, according to the Agriculture Ministry data, roughly unchanged from 2.26 million tonnes in 2011 and up from 1.37 million tonnes in 2010. The ministry said this month Ukraine planned to increase the harvest to 4.0 million tonnes in 2015 while the sowing area could rise to 2.0 million hectares.

The ministry also said that Ukraine might export about 1.7 million tonnes of soyabeans this season, while analysts put the exports at about 1.4 million tonnes. ProAgro agriculture consultancy said last week it had revised down its forecast for Ukraine's 2012/13 soyabean exports by 8.4 percent to 1.42 million tonnes due to an expected rise in domestic consumption.

It said Ukraine was likely to consume 872,000 tonnes of soya this season versus 860,000 tonnes a year earlier. US Department of Agriculture forecasts Ukrainian soyabean exports at 1.8 million tonnes this season as of November against the forecast of 1.6 million tonnes a month earlier. It said Ukraine exported 1.2 million tonnes of the commodity in 2011/12.

Copyright Reuters, 2012