KIEV, UKRAINE – Less than 6 months into the current grain marketing year, Ukraine has already exported more than half of its wheat exportable surplus, Reuters reported on Nov. 18, citing APK-Inform statistics.

Ukraine has exported 12.4 million tonnes during the June-July season, with Indonesia, Egypt and Turkey being the primary destinations, according to the APK-Inform report.

Ukraine’s ag ministry earlier this month forecast record wheat production at 32.1 million tonnes and pegged exports at around 24 million tonnes, which would also be a record.

This contrasts sharply with neighboring Russia, which recently lowered its wheat production estimates by 12% from the previous year to 75 million tonnes. A little less than half of the drought-impacted Russian wheat crop is expected to be exported, according to the latest USDA Foreign Agricultural Service projections.

In an effort to curb food inflation, Russia earlier this year implemented a floating tariff on wheat, barley and corn exports. Ukraine, meanwhile, is not taking measures to curb grain exports.

Taras Kachka, Ukraine’s deputy minister for agriculture, told Reuters on Nov. 17 at the Global Grain Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, that the government does not plan to impose wheat export restrictions but could decide to at a later date if the export pace remains faster than expected.