EBITDA of the main agricultural crops in Ukraine

Due to logistical problems caused by the full-scale invasion, the grain of the 2022 harvest had to be sold throughout 2023, while the sale of last year's harvest was usually completed as early as May.

As part of the Agrohub Benchmarking study, the results of sales of the 2022 harvest as of the end of calendar year 2023 and profit indicators were analyzed in view of the current price level.

Thus, the EBITDA indicator for the 2022 season for the main crops in December 2023 after updating prices and storage costs amounted to $47/ha, while in February 2023 this indicator was forecast at the level of $206/ha, as agricultural producers hoped for stable work grain corridor. That is, the actual indicator turned out to be 4 times lower than the forecast. And the actual return on working capital of growing ROWC crops was only 4%, while at the beginning of the year it was forecast at the level of 19%.

According to the study, certain crops have become unprofitable due to low prices and high logistics costs. Thus, corn, which last year occupied the main share in the structure of crop rotation and, accordingly, required significant expenses for storage in elevators, has an EBITDA of -227 $/ha and a ROWC of -16%. According to the results of the 2022 season, winter wheat received EBITDA -19 $/ha and ROWC -16%.

At the same time, oilseed crops remained profitable, especially winter rapeseed, which was sold as early as 2022, so it did not require storage losses. Its EBITDA is $676/ha, and its ROWC is 61%. The second position is occupied by soybeans with EBITDA of $225/ha and ROWC of 27%, and sunflower with EBITDA of $175/ha and ROWC of 20%.