Ukraine farming union flags rising barley exports to China

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine has exported about 140,000 metric tons of barley to China so far in July and is likely to ship 350,000 to 400,000 tons in August, farming union UAC said on Wednesday.

"For China, 500,000 to 550,000 tons of barley are contracted (for July-August). Another 350,000 to 400,000 tons still need to be shipped in August," UAC said in its weekly report.

It said the total volume of barley contracted for export for July-August reached 770,000 tons.

Ukrainian analyst Barva Invest said this month that Chinese companies contracted to buy up to 700,000 tons of the 2025 Ukrainian barley crop.

Ukraine is a large barley producer and exporter and certified by Beijing to supply barley to the Chinese market.

China was the main importer of Ukrainian barley in the 2023/24 season with an import volume of 702,000 tons, said Ukrainian grain traders union UGA.

(Reporting by Pavel PolityukEditing by David Goodman)