Ukraine's farm minister, for a second time, denied talk of behind-the-scenes curbs on wheat exports as he forecast a historically strong grains harvest despite weather damage to winter crops.

Mykola Prysyazhnyuk, the Ukraine agriculture minister, said the government had made "no recommendations to limit wheat exports", contrary to allegations on Friday in the Ekonomicheskie Izvestia newspaper of a ceiling of 1.7m tonnes in the February-to-July period.

The denial followed Mr Prysyazhnyuk's statement last week, that the country had "no plans to limit grain exports", after persistent talk of a backroom deal with grain traders to focus on corn shipments instead.

However, he acknowledged weak prospects for Ukraine wheat export, saying that "traders are telling us they will not be able to export more than 300,000-500,000 tonnes a month", a pace which the level of stocks "allows for".

Market relegation

The Canadian Wheat Board last month flagged of the threat of Ukraine export restrictions, with the US Department of Agriculture last Monday warning of an "unofficial lid" on wheat shipments.

However, such talk has angered Ukraine wheat producers, whose access to international markets was hampered last season by quotas and, early in 2011-12, by tariffs, which were repealed following farmer protests.

Indeed, the alleged "tacit agreement" between traders and the government over curbing exports had triggered a raw nerve, after two years when Ukraine was "prevented from playing a major role on the international export scene", Agritel's Kiev office said.

Ukraine's absence this season has helped neighbouring Russia "to find a solid place on the international market", announcing a string of wheat sales to major importers such as Egypt.

'No threat of grain shortages'

Talk of Ukraine export curbs has been given credence by the weak prospects for winter crops after the cold snap earlier this month added to problems for winter grains given a bad start by a dry autumn.

"Close to 3.0m hectares could need to be replanted," Agritel said.

Factoring in the reseedings, with crops such as barley and corn, Mr Prysyazhnyuk forecast a crop of 42m-50m tonnes, below the record 56.7m tonnes achieved last year, but nonetheless representing a historically high level.

"There is no threat of grain shortages on the domestic market even under the pessimistic scenario," he said.

Wheat prospects 

The wheat harvest was pegged at 15m-16m tonnes, down from 22.3m tonnes last year, but within sight of the 10-year average of 17.4m tonnes, on US Department of Agriculture data.

Separately on Wednesday, the Odessa office of Offre & Demande Agricole pegged this year's Ukraine wheat crop at 14.2m tonnes.

UkrAgroConsult, the Kiev-based crop consultancy, earlier this month pegged Ukraine's total grains harvest at 45m tonnes, including 13.7m tonnes of wheat.