Industry News
Ukraine Radically Improves the Quality of Grain
Ukrainian grain suppliers learn quickly. Year after year market operators excel at handling grain in a quick and professional manner. The improvement is especially obvious in the quality of Ukrainian corn, says the head of UMG’s Agrotrading project, Valentin Selvesyuk.
“Let’s take corn, for example. Just a few years ago, there was an issue with Ukrainian corn at the handling stage because of the large number of damaged grains in a batch. Now the problem is solved: elevators and grain terminals acquire specialized equipment and invest additional funds in warehouses,” – says Mr. Selvesyuk.
THE EXPERT NOTES THAT THESE FACILITIES ARE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR CORN, WHICH GREATLY IMPROVES THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT
The current season, he adds, is not the best one for Ukrainian wheat in terms of quality. On the other hand, it may yield a larger proportion of the average quality crop, which is also appreciated by customers.
Valentin Selvesyuk also notes the positive effect of the permission to mix different classes of wheat at the elevator. This has allowed to level out quality in the formation of export batches.
“Previous quality regulations were very stringent – almost to the point of criminal liability. Each class of grain should have been stored grain separately. Ultimately, these rules did not have a positive impact on the image of Ukraine as a grain supplier. Now the terms are much better. There was only one case when the buyer was rather upset that the quality turned out better than expected, ” – says the expert.
Mr. Selvesyuk notes that there’s one feature that all millers share, and that is that they hate surprises. Buying grain from any one source, be it the US or Ukraine, the processors have a certain understanding of these products, certain expectations. And it’s very important that the actual product is consistent with these expectations, since it’s a matter of production planning, equipment settings, etc.
