Ukraine's grain exports rose to 23.1 million tonnes in the first half of the 2018/19 season from 20.7 million tonnes a season earlier, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. Ukraine said in December it harvested a record 70.1 million tonnes of grain last year versus 61.3 million in 2017. The ministry said exports could rise to 47.2 million tonnes in the July 2018 to June 2019 season from 39.4 million the season before. It said Ukraine had already exported 9.1 million tonnes of corn compared with 5.6 million tonnes in the same period last season, though wheat shipments fell to 10.5 million tonnes from around 11.3 million.

Copyright Reuters, 2019