KIEV - China, the biggest importer of Ukrainian corn in the 2014/15 season, has not bought any corn from the country since August despite having signed a loan-for-grain deal, analyst UkrAgroConsult said on Tuesday.
China bought more than 3 million tonnes of Ukrainian corn last season, but has purchased only 330,000 tonnes so far this season. In August China bought around 65,000 tonnes of the commodity, according to UkrAgroConsult data.
The consultancy said a lack of Chinese demand had reduced Ukrainian corn exports by about 7 percent season-on-season.
It said the European Union was the major importer of Ukrainian corn this season with a share of 66 percent.
Under a deal signed in 2012, Ukrainian state-run company GPZKU is meant to supply 5 million tonnes of grain to Chinese trading firm CCEC each year.
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A senior government official said earlier this year that Ukrainian corn exports to China under the $1.5 billion deal could be significantly below the expected 2 million tonnes this year, as Beijing appeared to want less.
GPZKU supplied around 2 million tonnes of corn in 2014 and had planned to ship the same amount this year.
In August, deputy agriculture minister Yaroslav Krasnopolsky said Ukraine had supplied about 800,000 tonnes of corn to China from January to August this year.
Beijing does not have an obligation to buy all the volume offered by Ukraine under the 15-year bilateral accord.
Ukraine, apparently fearing China's economic problems might impact the deal, has proposed changing its conditions to give Ukrainian traders greater flexibility.
