KIEV, UKRAINE — Ukraine grain exports continue to lag behind last year’s pace, the economy ministry told Reuters on Sept. 21.

So far in the 2020-21 marketing year, which began on July 1, Ukraine has shipped 10.48 million tonnes of grain, compared to 12.19 million tonnes at the same point last year, the economy ministry said.

The drop is primarily due to a decline in corn exports. So far this year Ukraine has exported 613,000 tonnes, well below the 1.93 million tonnes it had shipped at the same point last year.

To date, the country’s wheat sales stood at 7.18 million tonnes, compared with 7.53 million tonnes last year at this time.     

Ukraine exported 56.5 million tonnes of grain in 2019-20 but is on pace to ship only 47.4 million tonnes in 2020-21, according to the economy ministry.

Because of poor weather, the economy ministry is projecting Ukraine to produce 68 million tonnes of grain in 2020-21, down from a record 75.1 million tonnes last year.