BELGRADE, SERBIA — Serbia’s wheat and corn exports are expected to drop significantly from earlier estimates in 2021-22 due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which led Serbia to ban exports it deems important to food security, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

“Serbia is closely following the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, especially because 80% of Serbia’s grain exports travel to the world via Black Sea ports,” USDA’s Belgrade Post said. “On March 10, Serbia banned exports of food products important for food stability. Specifically, Serbia banned exports of wheat, wheat flour, rye, corn, cornmeal and sunflower oil. On March 24, Serbia amended the decree to allow the export of wheat and corn but only as per contracts signed before the original export ban.” 

Serbia is expected to produce a record 3 million tonnes of wheat in 2021-22, more than enough to meet its domestic needs and provide 1.6 million tonnes for export, but the export ban led the Belgrade Post to slash that projection by 25%. Serbia was expected to export 2 million tonnes of corn on 6 million tonnes of production in 2021-22, but corn exports are now projected to decline 40% to 1.2 million tonnes.

In 2022-23, Serbia’s wheat production is expected to be 2.6 million tonnes with domestic consumption reaching 2 million tonnes and exports at 1 million tonnes. 

The corn crop is predicted in 2022-23 to reach 7 million tonnes, with 2.5 million tonnes for exports. Animal feed will consume 4.3 million tonnes of the nation’s 4.7 million tonnes of domestic corn demand.

Barley production has risen steadily in recent years, and the 2022-23 crop is estimated at 576,000 tonnes, with 150,000 tonnes to be exported.