Exclusive: Ukraine ready to ban wheat exports if necessary – deputy minister

Exclusive: Ukraine ready to ban wheat exports if necessary – deputy minister

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine, one of world's top grain exporters, is ready to ban wheat exports if sales exceed limits agreed with traders, the deputy economy minister in charge of agriculture told Reuters on Wednesday.. Ukraine has exported 18 million tonnes of wheat so far in 2019/20, leaving an additional 2 million tonnes available for export over the rest of this season that runs until June 30, in line with a memorandum signed with traders.. Ukraine's wheat harvest largely exceeds domestic consumption, but last month Ukrainian bakers and millers asked the government to limit grain exports to maintain bread prices.. Looking ahead, Vysotskiy said Ukraine's 2020/21 wheat exports could fall sharply to 12-15 million tonnes from around 20 million in 2019/20 following a reduction in the sowing area caused by poor weather.. Ukraine had sowed 2.7 million hectares of spring crops as of April 10, or 18% of the expected sowing area of 15.3 million hectares..