Corn exports from Ukraine break records: top importing countries
18 March 13:58
In January-February 2025, corn was the most exported commodity from Ukraine. Its share in the total export structure amounted to 16%. This was reported by the State Customs Service, according to
It is noted that since the beginning of the year, 4.7 million tons of this cereal crop have been exported from Ukraine, worth $ 982 million.
Corn has become a key export commodity, accounting for 26.5% of agricultural exports and 16% of Ukraine’s total exports.
Most of the corn was exported to Spain – 933 thousand tons, Italy – 725 thousand tons, Turkey – 639 thousand tons, Egypt – 593 thousand tons, and the Netherlands – 514 thousand tons.
As reported by
Foreign trade operations were conducted with partners from 189 countries. Ukraine exported most of its goods to Poland ($353.3 million), Italy ($206.8 million), Spain ($201.7 million), Germany ($170.1 million), and the Netherlands ($158.1 million). In total, the EU countries accounted for 59.1% of total exports ($1.88 billion), which shows a 15.4% drop compared to January 2024.
The largest importers to Ukraine were China ($1.3 billion or 24.8% of total imports), Poland ($486.6 million), Turkey ($389 million), Germany ($378.4 million), and the United States ($328.2 million). The share of the EU countries in imports amounted to 43.3% ($2,386.4 million), which is 2.1% less than last year.
The imbalance in trade with China is particularly noteworthy, with a negative trade balance of $1.2 billion.
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Commodity structure of foreign trade
Exports were dominated by:
- Products of plant origin (29.5% of total exports), of which 22.9% were cereals.
- Fats and oils of animal or vegetable origin (15%).
- Non-precious metals and their products (10.3%).
- Prepared food products (9.3%).
- Mineral products (9.1%).
The import structure was dominated by:
- Machinery, equipment and mechanisms; electrical equipment (24.4% of total imports).
- Mineral products (13%), of which 12.7% were mineral fuels, oil and its distillation products.
- Land transport vehicles, aircraft, and floating craft (12.9%).
- Chemical products (11.7%).
- Non-precious metals and their products (5.3%).
Dynamics of foreign trade
Seasonally adjusted data show that exports decreased by 4.7% compared to December 2024, while imports increased by 3.4%. This led to a deepening of the seasonally adjusted negative balance to USD 3 billion (in December 2024, it was USD 2.7 billion).
The export-import coverage ratio amounted to only 0.58 (compared to 0.71 in January 2024), indicating a deepening imbalance in Ukraine’s foreign trade.
Some product groups showed a significant increase in exports, including pharmaceuticals (73.5%), mineral fuels (72%), and optical and photographic instruments and apparatus (29.3%). At the same time, exports in such categories as works of art (-97.7%), natural or cultured pearls, precious stones (-20.1%) and ferrous metals (-20.2%) decreased significantly.
