UPDATE 1-Ukraine's November wheat exports down 20.2% mth/mth -traders

(Adds export data, paragraph 6)

KYIV, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine's wheat exports fell to1.58 million tonnes in November from 1.98 million tonnes inOctober, the UGA Ukrainian grain traders union said on Monday.

Ukraine is among the world largest wheat growers andexporters but its exports have fallen significantly due to theRussian invasion.

After an almost six-month blockade caused by the Russianinvasion, three Ukrainian Black Sea ports were unblocked at theend of July under a deal between Moscow and Kyiv brokered by theUnited Nations and Turkey.

The UGA said Ukrainian exporters had declared 5 milliontonnes of grains and oilseeds for export during November and the'grain corridor' contributed 2.3 million tonnes last month,down more than 1.2 million tonnes from October.

"The decline is due to Russian delays in inspection ofvessels in Istanbul," UGA said in a statement.

The Ukrainian agriculture ministry said on Monday thecountry had exported almost 18.3 million tonnes of grain so farin the 2022/23 season, down 29.9% from the 26.1 million tonnesexported by the same stage of the previous season.

The volume included more than 6.9 million tonnes of wheat,9.8 million tonnes of corn and about 1.5 million tonnes ofbarley.

The government has said that Ukraine could harvest about 51million tonnes of grain this year, down from a record 86 milliontonnes in 2021, because of the loss of land to Russian forcesand lower yields.(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Jason Neely)

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