Source: Oleoscope (Russia)
Ukraine’s sunflower oil exports in 2024/25 fell 24% to 4.73 million tons, a three-season low, according to APK-Inform.
In August, sunflower oil exports from Ukraine fell to 150,000 tons, which was the lowest monthly volume in more than three years and the second lowest monthly figure in the last nearly 14 seasons.
A complete lack of deliveries to India, among other factors, drove the decline in all key areas. Earlier, deliveries in this direction exceeded Russian deliveries for the first time in two years.
Ukraine’s 2024 sunflower harvest shrank, low processing margins curbed exports, and cheaper oil dampened import demand.
At the same time, supplies to key markets increased slightly in the season that has already ended. Thus, the top three importers of Ukrainian sunflower oil were India (767 thousand tons, exports to which grew by 44% by 2023/24 MY), Spain (656 thousand tons; +11%), and Italy (504 thousand tons; +28%).
The Ukrainian sunflower processing sector struggled, pushing factories toward soybean and rapeseed, and export duty proposals. At this point, no final decision has been made on their introduction. The main reason for introducing the duty, as previously noted by lawmakers, is to utilize domestic processing capacity and create added value in the production process.