Sunflower prices and sunflower oil exports have hit record highs
Sunflower prices
Prices on the domestic sunflower market reached a maximum last week since March of last year.
This is reported in the weekly digest “APK-Inform”. Indeed, an increasing number of processing companies were willing to purchase sunflower at 16,600-16,800-17,000 UAH/ton including delivery costs, largely due to active exports of sunflower oil.
In particular, LLC Verkhivtsevsky Oil Extraction Plant offered sunflower at 16,500 UAH per ton with VAT.
Further price growth for raw materials occurred even despite some “softening” of prices in the export oil market. Quite a few agricultural enterprises were willing to ship this crop at maximum prices within the formed market range or close to them, so there was currently no significant supply shortage in the market. Moderate trading pace persisted on the export sunflower market, as the demand prices of domestic processors were more attractive to sellers.
Exports of sunflower oil
Exports of sunflower oil are approaching record highs.
Ukraine’s sunflower oil exports from September to April 2023/24 MY totaled over 4.4 million tons, exceeding the previous season’s figure by 17% and marking the second-highest export volume in history after the 2019/20 MY (4.49 million tons from September to April).
This was reported by the IA “APK-Inform”.
“The increased demand for this product in the current season from key global importers was supported by a more attractive price for sunflower oil compared to other vegetable oils, leading Ukrainian plants to actively increase sunflower processing,” explained APK-Inform.
Analysts also note that a significant factor is ensuring relatively stable oil shipments by sea transport.
The estimate for sunflower oil exports for the 2023/24 season was revised upward by APK-Inform experts to 5.6 million tons (+4% from the April estimate; -1% from the 2022/23 MY). However, considering that approximately 79% of the forecast has already been exported, a significant decrease in monthly shipment volumes is expected by the end of the season.
Thus, the reduction in the export of this product from May to August of the current season may be due to a decrease in sunflower processing amid the depletion of its stocks, which are estimated by APK-Inform as minimal for the country as a whole as of the beginning of May, the lowest in the last three seasons.
It is worth noting that sunflower production in 2023 reached 12.8 million tons.”