Ukraine will introduce a ban on wheat exports from November 15 this year, Ukrainian Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Mykola Prysiazhniuk has said, according to Reuters.

"There will be a full ban from November 15. There will be a government order about this. We are not playing games here. We do not have any other option," he said.

Prysiazhniuk had said that Ukraine would consider imposing limits if the high level of exports threatened to push up the price of bread at home.

Last week the government said the high pace of wheat exports would exhaust stocks of Ukrainian wheat available for shipping abroad by November 15-20, and it urged traders to be cautious in concluding new contracts.

As reported, this summer the Cabinet of Ministers and domestic grain traders signed a memorandum setting the maximum amount of grain exports. They decided to export four million tons of wheat, three million tons of barley and 12.4 million tons of maize. Early this autumn, officials again recalculated the balance, and the projected volume of wheat exports was raised to five million tons.

Ukraine exported 3.8 million tons of wheat as of October 22, and a further 1.6 million tons was contracted.

Ukrinform