OREANDA-NEWS. August 27, 2010. Astarta (WSE: AST PW) collected 160 ths mt (-28% y-o-y) of early crops from 53 ths ha (-10% y-o-y) planted this year. Average winter wheat yields declined by 24% y-o-y to 3.4 mt/ha, while barley yields fell 13% y-o-y to 2.6 mt/ha, which is still 20-25% above average yields in Ukraine.

Concorde Capital: according to company management, Astarta’s wheat harvest this year contains ~80% of food quality wheat vs. ~50% in 2009, additionally increasing its monetary value. Since domestic wheat prices (2 grade, ex-works) reached USD 190 per mt (+47% y-o-y) and barley export prices skyrocketed to USD 245 per mt (+81% yoy), this should fully offset the unusually high crop loss rate for the company this year, according to our estimates.