The volume of Ukrainian grain already exported and prepared for export has reached 23.1 million tonnes so far in the 2018/2019 season, against 21 million by the same point in the previous season, Ukraine's state service for food safety said on Friday. Ukraine has said it harvested a record 70.1 million tonnes of grain this year versus 61.3 million in 2017, while the agriculture ministry said exports could rise to 47.2 million tonnes in the July 2018-June 2019 season from 39.4 million the season before.

It said the volume included 10.3 million tonnes of wheat, compared with 11 million in the same period last season, while corn shipments rose to 9 million tonnes from around 5.5 million. Analyst APK-Inform said a third of the exports had been sent to east and south-east Asia and this region's share of the total had risen by 7 percent season on season. It said higher imports by Singapore, Japan and Philippines were behind the higher volume.

"Indonesia remains the key Ukrainian partner in the region and its share totals 34 percent in the July-November shipments," the analyst said. The ministry earlier this week said actual grain exports have totalled 21.7 million tonnes as of Dec. 26, compared with 19.9 million by the same point in the previous season.

Grains, vegetable oils and oilseeds dominate Ukrainian agricultural exports.

Copyright Reuters, 2019