Grain export: state, problems and prospects

Currently, Ukraine is one of the world leaders in agricultural export. Due to its favorable climate and geographical location, unique natural resources and large areas of fertile arable land, Ukraine is well positioned to become a world leader in agricultural production. The purpose of this article is to analyze the situation on the grain market, determine trends, the capacity of the grain market and export potential of Ukraine. The methods used in the present studies include the method of analysis for the assessment of the grain market, the method of comparison for the analysis of the export potential of the world grain market, the method of logical generalization in summarizing the results of this study. The article reviews the export potential of the grain market in Ukraine and the world. Analyzing the data, we came to the following conclusions. Ukraine accounts for 7.5 percent of total global wheat exports, which puts it in the sixth place in the world. Positive growth trends in the export percentage by 15.5% in comparison with 2018 indicate that Ukraine is gradually entering the top three world grain exporters. Consideration of export potential in the context of selected crops shows that since 2015, there has been a tendency to increase the growth rates for wheat by 11.9 percent, for corn by 80.7 percent, for barley by 9.1 percent. The article concludes that, while maintaining a high rate of increase in agricultural output, the agro-industrial sector has significant additional untapped potential to increase the exports of value-added products. Its further development (provided the sustainable food security of the state) is capable not only to consolidate Ukraine's status as a reliable supplier of high-quality affordable food products to the world market, but also to become a powerful engine for economic development and increase of the population welfare, contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture, while realizing a powerful production and export potential.