Rapeseed oil exports from Ukraine in July–February of the 2025/26 marketing year increased 2.2-fold compared to the same period last season, while foreign exchange earnings rose 2.7-fold, according to the Ukroliyaprom association.
The association also reported a sharp increase in the rapeseed meal segment. Over the first eight months of the season, exports of rapeseed meal increased 2.3-fold, while foreign exchange revenue rose by 85%.
Ukroliyaprom views this trend as evidence of the industry’s strategic shift from exporting raw materials to selling products with higher added value.
According to the association’s assessment, it was the increase in rapeseed processing, along with soybeans, that made it possible to offset the shortage of sunflower seeds and maintain oilseed processing plants’ capacity utilization at a stable level.
At the same time, the industry continues to operate under difficult conditions. Among the main risks, the association cites restrictions on energy supply, risks to exports via seaports, and the vulnerability of rail logistics.
Overall, oil and fat products remain one of the key items in Ukrainian exports. According to Ukroliyaprom, they account for 19.2% of total goods exports, or $7.737 billion.
The introduction of export duties on rapeseed and soybeans last September caused a redistribution of income from agricultural producers to processors, resulting in total losses for farmers of approximately $200 million, the American Chamber of Commerce (ACC) reported during a press briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.
According to published data, due to a 7% drop in domestic prices relative to global markets, Ukrainian farmers lost $130 million in profits. Small and medium-sized producers, who are unable to export their products independently, were hit the hardest. An additional $50 million was collected from farmers and exporters in the form of duties paid to the state budget.
“The export duty that was introduced is effectively a redistribution of income among producers in favor of processors. Instead of stimulating processing, we have ended up with a mechanism to cover the losses of the processing industry at the expense of crop production,” the ACC noted.
Representatives of the business association emphasized that in the six months since the law took effect, not a single new processing facility has been declared or built in Ukraine. At the same time, existing capacity of 23 million tons already exceeds the total oilseed production volume, which stands at about 20 million tons.
According to ACC estimates, Ukraine’s foreign exchange earnings from oilseed exports during this period decreased by $1 billion. Specifically, revenue from rapeseed exports fell by $700 million (with partial compensation from increased exports of oil and meal, the net loss amounts to $400 million – IF-U). For soybeans, the decline is estimated at $240 million, and for sunflowers, at $345 million.
Experts argue that the arguments of the bill’s initiators regarding the successful experience with sunflower seed tariffs were flawed due to the different physical nature of the crops. As a light product, sunflower seeds are more profitable to process locally, whereas rapeseed and soybeans are heavy crops that are more practical to transport by large vessels to consumption centers. The ACC also highlighted the negative legislative precedent, as protests from leading industry associations—including the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC) and the Ukrainian Agrarian Council (UAC)—were ignored during the law’s adoption. Furthermore, this decision has strained relations with European partners and contradicts the processes of European integration.
For his part, Oleg Nivievsky, a professor at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), noted that the total losses incurred by agricultural producers due to the law over a full marketing year could amount to approximately 17 billion UAH. According to his calculations, the rapeseed duty will generate 6.2 billion UAH for the budget but will result in net economic losses of 80–170 million UAH due to reduced farmer incomes. The situation is even worse for soybeans: with budget revenues of 4.1–4.7 billion UAH, farmers will lose 9.1–9.3 billion UAH, resulting in net losses for the country of 200–500 million UAH.
“This is a bad signal for the market, indicating that processing is uncompetitive without state subsidies. A similar logic of ‘utilizing capacity’ is already being applied to the export of scrap metal and timber, which sets an extremely negative precedent,” emphasized Nivievsky, adding that the state’s total economic losses from duties on both crops could reach 280–670 million UAH.
As reported, pursuant to Law No. 4536-IX of July 16, 2025, a 10% export duty on rapeseed and soybeans was introduced in Ukraine effective September 4, 2025. The document provides for a gradual reduction of the rate by 1% annually, starting January 1, 2030, to 5% by 2035. At the same time, the law includes a preferential regime for direct producers and cooperatives, who are exempt from paying the duty when exporting their own-grown products.
Oilseed production in Ukraine in the 2026-2027 season will show growth due to high margins and the development of domestic processing, according to the information and analytical agency UkrAgroConsult.
Analysts noted that sunflower will remain a priority crop for farmers. At the beginning of 2026, sunflower seed prices approached UAH 30,000/t, which encourages farms to expand their crops. The area under this crop in the new season may increase to 6.1 million hectares.
The soybean and rapeseed markets remain stable. At the same time, domestic processing of these crops is growing in Ukraine, which strengthens the country’s role in the Black Sea region. An increase in gross seed harvest will stimulate plant utilization and further growth in oil and meal exports.
Among the key trends for the 2026/27 season, UkrAgroConsult named the preservation of oilseeds as one of the most profitable segments of agricultural production, with sunflower maintaining its leading position. Analysts also predict an increase in processing capacity utilization and a further increase in exports of processed products amid relative stability in the soybean and rapeseed markets.
Foreign exchange earnings from rapeseed oil exports from Ukraine in the second half of 2025 increased 2.2 times compared to the same period of the previous season, while rapeseed meal revenues increased 1.4 times, according to Dmytro Kysilevsky, deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development, citing data from the Ukroliyaprom association.
“The introduction of a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed has allowed Ukraine to increase the production of oil and meal from these raw materials, as well as to increase exports of processed products,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to the association’s data, in July-December 2025, rapeseed processing into oil increased 1.8 times. In the soybean segment, in September-December 2025, oil production increased by 22.4%, exports by 23.3%, and foreign exchange earnings by 1.5 times.
“The processing of soybeans into oil and meal exceeded its exports by 3.7%,” the parliamentarian emphasized.
Ukroliyaprom predicts that in the 2025-2026 marketing year (MY, July-June), rapeseed processing will reach a record 1.7 million tons (over 50% of the gross harvest), and soybeans — 3.0 million tons (over 60%). This will ensure the production of 720,000 tons of rapeseed oil and 600,000 tons of soybean oil.
Kysilevsky emphasized that the processing model proved its effectiveness in the very first season of the duty law, providing billions of hryvnias in taxes. He also recalled the support programs “Made in Ukraine,” in particular, “5-7-9” loans and 25% compensation for the cost of agricultural machinery.
The crop division of the Alebor Group grain trading company has completed the 2025 production season, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the company’s specialists grew and harvested wheat from 2,000 hectares with a yield of over 7 tons/hectare, corn from 1,100 hectares with a yield of 14.5 tons/hectare, rapeseed from 1,500 hectares with a yield of 3.6 tons per hectare, and sunflower from 1,800 hectares with a yield of 3.85 tons per hectare.
Alebor Group is a trading company founded in 2006 in the Cherkasy region. Its structure includes the Khristinivskoye Grain Receiving Enterprise (with a storage capacity of 74,000 tons of grain), the Voronovitske Grain Receiving Enterprise (104,000 tons of grain), Chesne Grain Receiving Enterprise (27,500 tons of grain), transport companies Boleko and Avtoera with a fleet of 210 heavy-duty grain trucks, and construction company Alebor Real Estate.
According to information on the company’s website, Alebor Group is one of the top 20 grain trading companies in Ukraine, exporting about 2 million tons of grain annually. The group has its own land bank of 6,500 hectares. The company’s founder is Oleksiy Kustov.
KMZ Industries is the largest manufacturer of elevator equipment in Ukraine and produces a full range of products, including silos, grain dryers, transport equipment, and separators, as well as providing automation and installation services.
According to the company, it has built more than 5,000 facilities. KMZ Industries silos with a total volume of more than 12.5 million cubic meters are in operation.
Ukraine maintains stable rapeseed export rates and, as of December 8, has shipped 52,000 tons, while in November the figure was almost 158,000 tons. In December, exports will remain within the range of 105,000-150,000 tons, according to the analytical cooperative “Pusk,” created within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council (VAR).
“Rapeseed exports remain stable. Paid duties have begun to return, and liquidity is gradually shifting toward exporters,” analysts said.
According to their data, rapeseed has been trading in a narrow range of EUR 477–480 per ton on the European market for about two months. There are price fluctuations of 2–3%, but there is no real dynamics. However, the crop may go up, analysts note, adding that soybeans are the key driver now: if they grow, rapeseed may also rise in price to EUR477–480 per ton.
According to their observations, the situation is similar on the domestic market: the conditional price remains at $550–560 per ton, and the indicative price of processing enterprises is 24–24.5 thousand UAH/ton.
“The market is generally stable. There are isolated cases of higher prices, but they are individual. Some factories are speeding up purchases due to a shortage of other crops, in particular sunflower, so a slight increase is possible,” the experts emphasized.
They reminded that forward trading in rapeseed from the 2026 harvest will soon intensify.
“The first indicative prices for new harvest rapeseed are announced at $430–435 per ton CPT port for small batch deliveries in July–August. The best period for forward fixing is traditionally January-March. There are no visible risks for the new harvest at the moment, but it is still too early to conclude contracts for large volumes,” Pusk recommended.
