Ukraine rapeseed campaign starts slowly as war weighs, Vilmorin says

Vilmorin & Cie SA

01/08/2022 18:34

PARIS, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian farmers are holding back
on orders for rapeseed to sow for next year's harvest as
Russia's invasion continues to disrupt agricultural activity,
French seed group Vilmorin  VILM.PA  said on Monday.
    Ukraine's president said on Sunday that this year's harvest
could be half its usual size, and some farmers and observers
fear next year's production could be even more affected as the
impact of the war accumulates.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZC02O  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YW3DM
    Rapeseed is one of the first major arable crops to be sown
in Europe after summer harvesting and demand from Ukrainian
growers so far was "relatively sluggish", Vilmorin's Chief
Executive Franck Berger said.
    "Some farmers are cautious about their capacity to carry out
sowing," he said during a presentation of full-year sales.
    Most of Vilmorin's sales in Ukraine come from spring-planted
maize (corn) and sunflower crops, and it had little visibility
over how the farming situation might evolve by then, he added.
    For its 2021-2022 financial year that ended on June 30,
Vilmorin recorded a 4% fall in combined sales for Ukraine and
Russia to 134 million euros ($137.54 million), compared with a
7.5% rise in group annual sales to 1.587 billion euros.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YW3DM
    Its sales in Ukraine dropped, marked by reduced planting by
farmers and selling of existing stocks of sunflower seed by
distributors, Vilmorin said.
    In Russia, however, sales increased, partly due to late
spring planting by some farmers that allowed Vilmorin to ship
seed despite delays linked to the war and related sanctions.
    Vilmorin has maintained commercial sales in Russia, citing
its role in the global food supply chain, but has suspended a
project to develop a local production facility.
        
    
($1 = 0.9743 euros)

 (Reporting by Gus Trompiz
Editing by Marguerita Choy)
 ((gus.trompiz@thomsonreuters.com; +33 1 49 49 52 18; Reuters
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))