The FINANCIAL — According to APK-Inform analysts, in terms of declining of grains and pulses production volumes in 2015/16 MY, Ukraine is expected to decrease its domestic consumption of grains to 28.1 mln tonnes, against 29.2 mln tonnes in 2014/15 MY, or down 4%.
In particular, the food consumption will reduce to 5 mln tonnes, against 5.2 mln tonnes in the previous year, and the forage consumption – to 16.6 mln tonnes, against 17.3 mln tonnes, declared Rodion Rybchinskiy, Head of Business Projects Division of APK-Inform Agency, during his report on changes in the structure of grain production and consumption in Ukraine in the season-2015/16, within frames of the fourteenth international conference “Grain Forum & Maritime Days -2015” on May 28.
According to him, the forage consumption of feed barley will show the most significant fall of domestic consumption rates among other major grain crops, and in 2015/16 MY the index is estimated at 3.1 mln tonnes, down 10% compared with 2014/15 MY (3.5 mln tonnes). Also, both food and feed consumption of wheat will decline by 4%, and in the coming season its volumes will reach 4 mln tonnes and 5.4 mln tonnes, respectively.
According to R.Rybchinskiy, reduction of the country`s population, as well as reduction of the farm animals and poultry livestock, will become one of the major reasons for declining of grain crops domestic consumption. So, according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, as of January 1 of the current year the Ukrainian population totaled 42.9 mln people, whereas on January 1, 2013, the index totaled 45.5 mln people. And in the beginning of 2015, the livestock of major farm animals reduced by nearly 6%, while the poultry livestock – down 5%, said the speaker.