Ukraine’s grain export forecast was cut by 9.3 percent by agriculture researcher UkrAgroConsult because wheat and corn yields declined after a summer drought.

Grain exports will be 21.15 million metric tons in the marketing year which started on July 1, the researcher said in a statement e-mailed yesterday. This compares with a month-earlier forecast of 23.33 million tons. The harvest forecast was cut to 42.4 million tons from 43.9 million tons in July, according to the note.

Ukraine’s average grain yields have declined this year to 2.57 tons a hectare (2.47 acres) as of yesterday from 3.04 tons a hectare in the same period last year, the researcher, which is based in the capital, Kiev, said in another note e-mailed today. The average yields for corn fell to 2.78 tons a hectare from 4 tons a hectare last year.

Wheat exports for August are expected to be 6.3 million tons, corn 12.5 million tons and barley 2 million tons, the researcher said.

Bloomberg