On world markets, Ukrainian corn is sold cheaper than American and Argentine one by USD20 per ton. Such a price imbalance is abnormal. Ukrainian farmers have begun to control corn sales.

This was discussed on February 13 during the weekly briefing organized by the analytical center of the First Ukrainian Agricultural Cooperative "FUAC", created within the UAC.

"Ukraine is actively trading corn, significant volumes have already been contracted in January-February. Market operators fear that the supply of corn from Argentina will increase on the global market, and then the conditions for the sale of Ukrainian grain will deteriorate. On a CIF basis, prices have plummeted as the supply of Ukrainian corn is high and demand for it is low. On the European markets, Ukrainian grain is traded at USD200-210 per ton, while corn originating in the USA is traded at USD220 per ton. The gap of USD20 per ton is abnormally large. Ukrainian corn is too cheap on world markets compared to its American and Argentine counterpart, and there are no objective reasons for this imbalance," mentioned the analytical department of the FUAC.

At the same time, the CPT market is currently not active in terms of trade, as many farmers are holding back corn and do not want to sell the grain at low prices. In Odesa ports, CPT prices are in the range of USD147-155, and in small Danube ports - USD150-155 per ton.

"Large market players have paused in corn trading, while small and medium-sized traders are active on the market. Since prices on CPT terms are so low that they make corn trading unprofitable for an average farmer, many farmers are ready to postpone corn sales until summer or even postpone them to the next season. Although Ukraine has significant corn stocks of about 17 mln tons, the amount available for sale is an open question," the analysts said.