Ukraine in Arabic | Ukraine on verge of major agriculture boom
With 70 per cent of its fields covered with nutrient-rich soil up to six metres deep, Ukraine's famous 'black earth', hidden here under thick winter snow, could soon be giving growth to an agriculture boom partially precipitated by a reduction of wheat exports from Russia.
Last month the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated it expected the the amount of wheat imported from Russia to drop by 10% - from 22 million tons to 20 million tons, because of Russia's new export duty.
Russia will introduce new tariffs on wheat exports from Feb. 1 in a bid to battle a rise in domestic grain prices; and with the world's fourth largest wheat producer reducing exports Ukraine is likely to benefit, with the USDA likely to boost imports from the former Soviet state by as much as 3%.
The East European country has almost a third of the total arable land available in the European Union and several modern grain export hubs in the south of the country also provide a logistical advantage for Ukraine to tap the increasingly voracious demand for wheat from North Africa and the Middle East.
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