Ukraine bans wheat exports

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By Emiko Terazono and Jack Farchy in London and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev

… Ukraine is to ban … wheat exports from … mid-November. … Kiev told … traders of … ban on … Friday morning. Although … Ukrainian government portrayed … decision as … mutual agreement with … industry, traders said it was … de facto ban.

… agriculture ministry in Kiev said: “There has been no … official government decision to ban exports. But if … exports increased uncontrollably, threatening national food … security, measures have to be taken.”

Ukraine is … top ten wheat exporter and along with … Russia and … Kazakhstan is … part of … Black Sea region, which accounts for about … quarter of global exports of … commodity used to make … bread.

Wheat prices rallied on … move, although they remained below … peaks of mid-July when … effects of the drought ravaging the US were still unclear. … Chicago wheat futures rose 1.9 per cent to $8.85½ … bushel.

“… government does not want to be accused of market interference by unilaterally banning exports, as they have done in … past. So they are seeking … mutual agreement with traders through memorandums,” another trader said.

Financial Times