In January-September of this year, Ukraine increased exports of sunflower oil by 40.3% in physical terms compared to the same period last year – up to 4 mln 94.4 thsd tonnes, but in monetary terms it decreased by 5.8% to $3 bln 724.01 mln, which amounted to 13.72% of total Ukrainian exports.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service, the main exports were to Turkey (18.44% of shipments in monetary terms), Romania (16.59%) and China (12.15%).
In the first nine months of this year, the exports of soybean oil increased by 20.2% to 207.1 thsd tonnes, but the revenue from these exports also decreased by 21.7% to $181.24 mln.
The top 3 importing countries of Ukrainian soybean oil are Poland (69.1% of supplies in monetary terms), Germany (5.19%) and the United Arab Emirates (4.67%).
Exports of rapeseed and mustard oil in January-September 2023 reached 244.71 thsd tonnes, up 9.3 times compared to January-September 2022. The sales of this type of oil brought Ukraine $205.72 mln, which is 5.8 times more than last year.
The key export countries of rapeseed and mustard oil were China (28.61% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (20.08%) and Romania (15.22%).
In the first nine months of this year, margarine exports from Ukraine decreased both in physical terms (by 36.2%) and in monetary terms (by 37.5%) to 11.57 thousand tons worth $24.64 million.
At the same time, exports under article 1518 “fats, oils and vegetable oils subjected to chemical modification” increased by 70.4% in physical terms to 12.60 thousand tons, and by 16.2% in monetary terms to $11.22 million.
As for imports, the largest item in this segment of foreign trade remained the import of palm oil, which in January-September this year decreased both in physical (by 21.6%) and monetary terms (by 32.5%): 64.41 thousand tons of this type of oil were supplied to Ukraine, worth $82.46 million.
At the same time, imports of margarine to the country during the reporting period slightly decreased in physical terms by 0.3% to 9.07 thsd tonnes, but increased in monetary terms by 7.3% to $32.43 mln.
Finally, code 1516 “fats, oils, vegetable oils, chemically transformed without processing” closes the top three imports in this category – 11.23 thousand tons of products were supplied for $25.63 million, while in 9 months of last year there were 9.54 thousand tons for $26.62 million.
According to the State Customs Service, in the 12 months of pre-war 2021, exports of sunflower oil brought Ukraine $6.39 billion, soybean oil – $295.22 million, rapeseed and mustard oil – $222.56 million.
The main buyers of Ukrainian sunflower oil in 2021 were India (29.83% in monetary terms), China (14.36%), and the Netherlands (10.49%); soybean oil – Poland (66.42%), China (14.52%), and Germany (5.06%); rapeseed and mustard oil – the Netherlands (41.38%), Poland (30.42%), and China (12.49%).
In 2022/2023 marketing year, Ukraine increased the production and export of sunflower oil by 25.4% compared to 2021/2022 MY, the press service of the association Ukroliyaprom reports.
“One of the main peculiarities of 2022/23 MY was the significant increase of sunflower seed processing at the domestic facilities starting from 2023, after the ban of its import by some EU countries. This allowed to significantly increase the processing of sunflower seeds within the country and, accordingly, the production of oil and its export by 25.4%, sunflower meal – by 27.3% compared to 2021/22 MY,” the company said in the report.
According to the report, the export of sunflower seeds decreased by 58% in the first eight months of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022. This made it possible to significantly increase its processing at domestic facilities and, accordingly, the production and export of high value-added products.
In 2022/23 MY, the production and export of soybean oil increased by 18%, and soybean meal – by 19.4%.
These figures could have been higher if soybean processing in the country had increased, especially given that exports of soybean products are mainly carried out by road and rail, the association noted.
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine increased the processing of rapeseed, as evidenced by the increase in exports of rapeseed oil in July-August this year by more than 20 times compared to the corresponding period in 2022.
“Ukroliyaprom forecasts that in 2023/2024 MY Ukraine’s production of main types of oilseeds will increase by 18.8%. This will be due to the expansion of production areas by 12.1% and an average yield increase of 5.7%, which was facilitated by favorable weather conditions. The largest increase in production is expected for sunflower seeds – by 15%.
As reported, Ukroliyaprom expects that in the season 2023/2024, Ukraine can produce up to 5 million tons of sunflower oil, while exports can reach 4.7 million tons.
The agrarian ministries of Ukraine and Bulgaria are starting to develop a declaration on the mechanisms of influence in case of possible market shocks, including sharp price changes, in bilateral trade of sunflower oil, the press service of the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture said.
“The declaration is expected to signal the willingness of both sides to act together to prevent future market anomalies,” the Bulgarian agriculture ministry said in a statement following talks Friday in Sofia between Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev and Ukrainian Agropolitics Minister Nikolai Solsky.
The sides discussed an emergency protective measure of the European Commission to temporarily ban imports from Ukraine of four crops – wheat, corn, canola and sunflower – in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary.
Gechev informed the participants of the negotiations about the Bulgarian government’s decision to lift the national ban on imports from Ukraine of a number of agricultural products and said the Bulgarian side will closely monitor the market both in terms of sunflower oil and other agricultural products.
“Bulgaria and Ukraine can work together to find long-term solutions for accelerated transit of agricultural goods to third countries and propose them to the European Commission,” the Bulgarian minister said.
He said that Bulgaria’s efforts are currently focused on the development of logistical systems through which solidarity corridors will function and fulfill the function for which they were created.
“Together we can face the challenges posed by the current situation and, in this way, solve them more quickly and efficiently,” Gechev stressed.
In turn, Nikolai Solski expressed the hope that the dialogue between the agrarian departments of the countries will continue. He assured his Bulgarian colleague that Ukraine was ready to jointly solve any arising issues in the future.
For its part, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy said after the talks that Bulgaria was ready to import all agricultural products from Ukraine, except for the four crops mentioned above.
Ukraine in January-March this year, Ukraine increased exports of sunflower oil by 14.5% – to 1 million 322.611 thousand tons.
According to customs statistics, in monetary terms, exports of these products in the first quarter decreased by 13.6% – to $1 billion 355.889 million ($1 billion 568.449 million in the first quarter of 2022).
In 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of sunflower oil by 16.4%, to $4 billion 290.336 million, in monetary terms – by 14.5%, to $5 billion 464.151 million.
Ukraine in January-March this year, Ukraine increased exports of sunflower oil by 14.5% – to 1 million 322.611 thousand tons. According to customs statistics, in monetary terms, exports of these products in the first quarter decreased by 13.6% – to $1 billion 355.889 million ($1 billion 568.449 million in 1Q2022).
During this period, the export of soybean oil increased by 36.6% – to 78,091 thousand tons, in monetary terms increased by 1.6% – to $77.689 million.
In 2022, Ukraine reduced exports of sunflower oil by 16.4% to $4 billion 290.336 million, in monetary terms – by 14.5% to $5 billion 464.151 million.
Soybean oil exports in 2022 were 237,025 thousand tons, down 1.7% from 20211. In monetary terms, exports rose by 3.2% to $304.685 million.
KSG Agro rented an oil extraction plant (OEZ) in Dnipropetrovsk region to produce virgin sunflower oil from its own raw material.
According to the agricultural holding’s press release issued on Friday, the crude sunflower oil it produces will be exported to European Union countries by road.
It is specified that the capacity of rented crushing plant allows processing 2.5 thousand tons of sunflower seeds into 1 thousand tons of sunflower oil per month. Staff of the factory consists of 30 persons. The production is equipped with modern equipment manufactured in Ukraine in 2008.
Agroholding reminded that after the start of a full-scale Russian military invasion into Ukraine, it began exporting rapeseed and sunflower oil to Poland, Slovakia and Italy. In addition, it began pilot shipments of sunflower oil to Poland and Italy using “flexitanks” – polymeric containers designed to transport liquid cargo and installed on trucks.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig farming as well as the production, storage, processing and sale of grain and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21,000 hectares.
According to the agricultural holding, it is one of the top five pork producers in Ukraine.
In 2021, the holding increased its net profit in 16 times compared with 2020 – up to $20.27 million, revenue – by 44%, to $30.75 million, while increasing EBITDA by half – to $12.28 million.
The owner and chairman of the board of directors of KSG Agro is Sergey Kasyanov.
