PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech farmers have 40% more grains in stock than a year ago as surging Ukrainian exports to European markets have replaced Czech exports, the country’s Agriculture Association said on Tuesday, warning of a potential squeeze in storage capacity.
The comments by the lobby group are the latest sign of concern in central and eastern European countries about the impact of Ukrainian imports on domestic agriculture markets which prompted Poland, Hungary and Slovakia to ban Ukrainian grain.
Romania looked set on Tuesday to follow the three countries but the Czech farm ministry said on Monday it did not plan a similar move, saying it would violate European Union market rules.
The Czech Agriculture Association said the country’s farmers had 2.6 million tonnes of grains in stock, 40% more than a year ago, as grains from Ukraine that were meant for markets in Africa and the Middle East have filled European silos. It warned of a threat of lack of storage capacity for this year’s Czech harvest.
“The Agriculture Association calls on the Farm Ministry and the European Commission to quickly activate the original corridors and Ukrainian grain is exported where it was originally destined for,” it said in a statement.
The Czech farm ministry said in an emailed response to Reuters questions on Monday that while Ukrainian grain exports to the Czech Republic had soared, they were still just under 4,000 tonnes last year, a fraction of overall Czech production of around 4.8 million tonnes.
The association said Czech silos were mostly filled with local grain which was not exported to other European markets.
“The problem is silos elsewhere in Europe. Czech wheat used to be exported there, and it has now been replaced by Ukrainian wheat,” it said in emailed comments.
The association said its survey of producers showed their wheat storage was at 1.6 million tonnes, versus 1 million a year ago. It did not include storage operated by traders and by food processing firms.
It said that between August 2022 and January this year, Czech wheat exports dropped by 200,000 tonnes, accounting for part of the higher stores. Another 200,000 tonnes was a result of a higher 2022 harvest while it said the reason for the remaining 200,000 tonnes of higher stores was unclear.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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