Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, processed 995,000 tons of oilseeds in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 (FY, October-December 2025), which is 2% more than in the same period last year and 78% more than in the previous quarter, the agricultural holding reported in its quarterly report.
It specified that sunflower seeds accounted for 85% of the total volume, with the remainder being soybeans, which were processed to partially offset the impact of limited availability of sunflower seeds on the domestic market.
According to the agricultural holding, oilseed processing volumes in July-December 2025 decreased by 6% compared to the same period last year, to 1.6 million tons, which is a result of a decrease in processing volumes under tolling agreements compared to the corresponding figure a year ago.
Sales of Kernel edible oil in the second quarter of 2026 amounted to 411 thousand tons, which is at the level of the same period last year, but the total figure for the first half of the year exceeded the result for the same period a year ago by 30% due to higher oilseed processing volumes. Bottled sunflower oil accounted for 17 thousand tons of total sales.
Silos received 2.3 million tons in the second quarter of 2026 FY, reaching 3.5 million tons in the first six months of 2026 FY.
“The 35% increase on an annualized basis was supported by higher overall grain availability due to increased corn yields in the group’s own agricultural segment, as well as increased grain consumption from third-party suppliers,” the agricultural holding explained.
Kernel’s grain exports reached 1.5 million tons in the second quarter of FY 2026, up 21% from the previous quarter. On an annualized basis, volumes increased by 10%, mainly reflecting the low comparative base of the previous year. The agricultural holding added that overall export rates remained limited due to delays in the harvesting campaign and continued slow sales to farmers.
The throughput capacity of Kernel’s export terminal in the second quarter of 2026 FY was 2.5 million tons, up 35% compared to the previous quarter. Grain crops accounted for 71% of total shipments, edible oils for 16%, and vegetable meal for the rest.
“At the same time, over the six months, the throughput capacity of the terminals decreased by 11% compared to the same period last year amid intensified Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and the Danube in the Odesa region, which led to prolonged disturbances and disruptions in the operation of the group’s terminals,” the agricultural holding stated.
Kernel recalled that in October-December 2025, Russian drones twice damaged the group’s port infrastructure in the Odesa region, including vegetable oil storage tanks and a number of production facilities. Preliminary estimates indicate a loss of approximately 500 tons of sunflower oil.
Before the war, Kernel was the world’s leading producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of global production) and its exporter (about 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. It is also involved in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) approved a $40 million loan agreement for a 10-year term for one of the subsidiaries of Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, Astarta Agricultural Holding.
“DFC will co-finance with the International Finance Corporation capital investments and operating expenses related to the construction of a soybean protein concentrate (SPC) plant,” the agricultural holding company said.
According to Vyacheslav Chuk, director of commercial operations and strategic marketing at the agricultural holding, in September 2025, Astarta intends to continue investing in the construction of its soy protein concentrate plant in 2026, with investments amounting to approximately EUR 40 million.
In 2024, Astarta began investing in the construction of a plant for processing soybean meal into soy protein concentrate with a capacity of 500 tons/day (approximately 100,000 tons/year) in the Hlobyn Industrial Complex (Poltava region). The agricultural holding will invest over EUR 76 million in the purchase of equipment and technologies and will create 110 new jobs.
Astarta and its structural unit Astarta Agro Protein signed the first investment agreement with the Ukrainian government to receive compensation from the state for significant investments. Under the agreement, the state will provide the agricultural holding with a number of incentives, including exemption from import duties on new equipment, import VAT on new equipment, and income tax for up to five years.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine and is the largest sugar producer in Ukraine. It comprises six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220,000 hectares, dairy farms with 22,000 head of cattle, an oil extraction plant in Hlobyn (Poltava region), seven elevators, and a biogas complex.
In the first half of 2025, Astarta reduced its net profit by 10.3% to EUR47.11 million, and its consolidated revenue decreased by 29.3% to EUR320.71 million.
October 29, 2025, Kyiv, International Exhibition Center (IEC)
Where is the profit during a crisis? How to scale up agricultural processing, attract investment, implement AI, and overcome the shortage of personnel in the food industry?
Experts, entrepreneurs, and leaders of the Ukrainian food sector will provide answers to these questions during the Agro2Food Profit Forum 2025 — the main event of the year for food producers and processors.
The forum will take place on October 29, 2025, in Kyiv, at the International Exhibition Center, as part of the Agro2Food exhibition of technologies, equipment, and solutions for agro-processing and the food industry.
5 panels. 1 day. Maximum practical benefit.
Panel #1. THE ECONOMICS OF ADDED VALUE IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY. Where is the profit in a crisis?
In partnership with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
With the participation of representatives of industry associations, clusters, distributors, and owners of processing businesses, who will share real-life cases of development, scaling, and optimization of production.
Key message: To show how Ukrainian producers are finding new sources of profit even in times of turbulence.
Panel No. 2. THE ECONOMICS OF INVESTMENT AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION
In partnership with the Reform Support Team (RST) of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and ProConsalting. With the participation of a representative of Oschadbank (on agribusiness support programs), the owner of an agricultural processing company (with a scaling case study), and a supplier of processing equipment (on technological innovations).
Key message: How to attract investment during wartime, develop exports, and implement sustainability strategies?
Key topics:
Panel No. 3. ECONOMY OF INNOVATION. “Digitalization. AI. Food processing”
In partnership with the Ukrainian Food Manufacturers Association U-Food and the Ukrainian Cluster Alliance.
Key message: Artificial intelligence is already changing the Ukrainian food industry.
Key topics:
Panel No. 4. HUMAN RESOURCE ECONOMICS. Labor shortage in the food industry: challenges and solutions.
In partnership with the Job Platform for Food Technologists and Manufacturers and Odessa National Technological University.
With the participation of American University Kyiv.
Key topics:
Panel No. 5. THE ECONOMICS OF UNIQUENESS
Main message: Innovative products, intellectual property, and craftsmanship as a profit strategy.
Key topics:
Agro2Food Profit Forum 2025 is:
Agro2Food statistics.
At the exhibition venue, which will reach 4,000 m2, over 120 exhibitors will present all the key achievements in agricultural processing and the food industry.
Organizer:
Premier Expo:
Where and when:
October 29, 2025
International Exhibition Center (IEC), Kyiv
More about the program: https://agro2food.com.ua/program/profit-forum
Media contact:
Olena Zhoga, Conference Manager, Premier Expo
+380 (67) 789 27 09
Agro2Food — Building an economy of added value together.
See you at the main event of the sincere Ukrainian autumn!
Tickets for the exhibition: https://agro2food.com.ua/visitors/registration
Interfax-Ukraine — information partner
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/news/press-release/1112280.html
In September 2025, Ukraine processed a record monthly volume of rapeseed, exceeding 250,000 tons. For the first time in a long time, domestic processing exceeded monthly exports of this crop by 236,000 tons, according to the analytical industry agency APK-Inform.
“At the same time, in late September and early October, trade in this sector slowed down due to the expected decision on the mechanism for exempting soybean and rapeseed producers from the 10% export duty. Against this backdrop, the supply of rapeseed decreased,” analysts noted.
Experts added that a number of processors reported low rapeseed supplies to enterprises and the likely completion of its processing and transition to sunflower, stocks of which were accumulated quite well in September.
Nevertheless, plants raised their demand prices for rapeseed in an attempt to attract more offers, to UAH 23,000-23,500/ton CPT and above for real volumes and large batches, according to APK-Inform.
Sunflower processing in Argentina in August 2025 increased to 488 thousand tons compared to 330 thousand tons in the same month of 2024, according to the APK-Inform agency, citing data from Oil World. At the same time, the figure was only slightly lower than in July of this year (491,000 tons).
According to experts, processing in September and October will continue to significantly exceed last year’s figures, as Argentine processors are taking advantage of the decline in sunflower harvests in Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
Argentine sunflower oil is currently the most competitive on the world market and is sold at significant discounts compared to products from the Black Sea region. Thus, exports in August amounted to 172,000 tons, compared to 116,000 tons a year earlier. The main destinations are India (90,000 tons compared to 21,000 tons a year earlier) and Iraq (14,000 tons compared to 31,000 tons).
According to data from the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture, the sunflower harvest in 2025 exceeded forecasts and amounted to 5.3 million tons, compared to 3.9 million tons in 2024. The country’s authorities expect to maintain high production levels in 2026 by increasing the area under cultivation by 10% annually.
Analysts at the Experts Club note that the growth in processing and exports from Argentina is putting pressure on the global sunflower oil market, lowering prices and increasing competition.
For Ukraine, one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of oil, this could mean a reduction in export revenues and the need to actively seek new markets, as well as to focus on deeper processing and improving product quality.
The Ma’Rizhany Industrial Park (Zhytomyr region) plans to double its industrial hemp processing capacity, according to Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, on Facebook.
He noted that as of early August 2025, the plant will be able to process 10,000 tons of hemp per year. Increasing the area under cultivation to 4,000 hectares will allow the plant to reach a processing capacity of 20,000 tons of raw materials per year. In the 2025 season, there will be more than 1,600 hectares of industrial crops within a 20 km radius of the park.
“The Ma’Rizhany industrial park is actively persuading farmers in the Zhytomyr region to switch from unstable and politicized grain supplies to the European Union to long-term contracts with Ukrainian customers for a new, promising, and traditional crop for Ukraine. Well, the demand for hemp fiber is growing on the world market, which is the best financial guarantee for farms that will become partners of the industrial park,” Kysilevsky said.
The MP expressed confidence that the industrial park has enough free space to accommodate the next stages of deep processing of industrial hemp.
In May 2025, the largest industrial hemp primary processing enterprise in Ukraine began operations in the Ma’Rizhany industrial park. Ma’Rizhany Hemp Company renovated an old flax factory and built a modern production facility with a capacity of 14,000 tons per year of long fiber for the textile industry. It is expected that related processing products, such as short fiber and chaff, will find application in nonwoven materials (heat and sound insulation), paper, building blocks, chipboard, and bioplastics.
As reported, IP “Ma’Ryzhany” occupies about 30 hectares, the territory of a former flax processing plant. It will be the first park in Europe for the primary processing of bast crops. It was entered in the Register of IPs in August 2024. It is planned to create more than 700 jobs.
