Source: Oleoscope (Russia)
Sunflower seed processing in the EU in April-June this year fell to its lowest level in several years, amounting to only 1.6 million tons compared to 2.21 million tons in the same period last year, according to the consulting agency Oil World (Germany). The decline amounted to more than 27%.
Since the beginning of the 2024/25 season, oilseed processing has fallen to 7.7 million tons (-1.65 million tons compared to 2023/24 MY), with declines recorded in Bulgaria (-0.5 million tons per year), Romania (-0.3 million tons), France, and the Netherlands.
Insufficient sunflower supply and deteriorating margins due to sharp price increases forced processors in a number of countries to switch to soybeans, raising total soybean processing in the EU to a three-year high of 15.4 million tons in 2024/ 25 MY, compared to 14.4 million tons in the previous season.
Analysts estimate rapeseed processing at 25.06 million tons for the 2024/25 marketing year, considerably lower than the 49.28 million tons processed last season. In particular, there was a significant reduction in rapeseed processing in Poland: according to the Polish Oilseed Producers Association (PSPO), the low rapeseed harvest in 2024 and limited stocks at the beginning of the 2024/25 season reduced oilseed processing to 3.54 million tons in 2024/25 MY, compared to 3.64 million tons in the 2024/24 season.
Earlier, it became known that rapeseed imports from Ukraine to the EU had fallen sharply. Since the beginning of the season, supplies have been 70.2% lower than a year earlier, and the country’s market share has fallen from 58% to 36.3%.