Source: Oleoscope (Russia)
According to preliminary data, Russia supplied more than 5.7 million tons of sunflower oil to foreign markets in 2024. For the first time in history, the annual export volume exceeded the 5 million tons target. Compared to 2023, the figure increased by 31% in physical terms, Agroexport said in a statement.
The driver was exports to India, the volume of which grew 2.4 times year-on-year, exceeding 2.2 million tons. Thanks to such dynamics, India, which in 2023 became a leader among the countries buying domestic sunflower oil, strengthened its positions during the last year. About 39% of all shipments of Russian sunflower oil went to the country. The largest volume was recorded in October, when more than 320,000 tons of sunflower oil from Russia were delivered to the South Asian state – more than half of the total volume of Russian exports in that month.
Turkey ranks second among buyers of Russian sunflower oil. According to preliminary data, exports to this country increased 1.5 times to 840 thousand tons.
The data on export volumes last year indicate that the record of 2023 has been updated and exceeded by more than 1 million tons, says Mikhail Maltsev, Executive Director of the Oil and Fats Union: “This achievement was possible not only due to the processing of large volumes of raw materials (the record harvest of 2023 plus significant carry-over residues of previous seasons), but also due to quite attractive world oil prices, as well as a small spread against palm and soybean oil. In this regard, our buyers such as India and Turkey have opted for more nutritionally valuable sunflower oil, significantly increasing their purchases.”
China has dropped to the 3rd place among importers of the Russian product in 2024. Market experts estimate that in January-December, the PRC purchased 590,000 tons of sunflower oil from Russia, which is 35% less than the 2023 volume. “The reduction in sunflower oil supplies to China in 2024 is due to a more favorable purchase price offered by Indian importers, as well as significant volumes of corn processing for oil in the domestic Chinese market. These factors reduced demand for sunflower oil in China,” explains Mikhail Maltsev.
Within the framework of the task set by the President of Russia to increase the volume of production and export of finished products of the agro-industrial complex by 1.5 times by 2030, the industry is increasing processing capacity at an accelerated rate. “Provided that the production of raw materials, especially sunflower, will increase at a similar rate, then in 2030 we hope to export about 6 million tons of sunflower oil,” – predicts Mikhail Maltsev.
At the same time, the union sees the main challenge in terms of increasing sunflower production. “It is necessary to move to accelerated crop rotation with the use of more intensive agro-technologies, allowing to increase the share of sunflower while maintaining the principles of sustainable agriculture, plus the introduction of new land into the turnover,” – said the executive director of the Oil and Fat Union.
Earlier it was reported that the export of oil and fat products at the end of 2024 is estimated at almost 11.7 million tons – by 5%, or 570 thousand tons more than in 2023.