India, the world’s largest importer of edible vegetable oils, expects to receive the first batches of sunflower oil from Ukraine from September after a five-month break caused by the Russian invasion and the blockade of Ukrainian seaports.
According to Bloomberg’s website, citing Indian agricultural trader Sandip Bajoria, India may receive 50-60 thousand tons of sunflower oil in September, as Ukraine is going to open some corridors of the Black Sea for the export of agricultural products from the ports of Odessa and Chernomorsk.
“We have begun to receive offers for August deliveries, but everything will depend on the availability of ships. Ukraine has sufficient reserves of oilseeds for processing,” the trader is quoted as saying.
Sunflower oil imports to India from Ukraine have been suspended since April as the Russian invasion disrupted the country’s trade, he said.
“The Indian government’s decision to allow duty-free imports of 2 million tons of sunflower oil annually this fiscal year and next will support demand. India purchased 1.89 million tons of crude sunflower oil in the year ending October, with Ukraine supplying almost 74%, and Argentina and Russia – about 12%,” the publication clarified in the message.
As reported with reference to the Deputy Minister of Economy – Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka, in the 2021/2022 marketing year (MY, July-June), the country exported 61.52 million tons of grain and oilseeds worth $22.2 billion.
During this period, foreign markets were supplied, including 4.3 million tons of sunflower oil worth $5.8 billion, 3.4 million tons of sunflower meal worth $960 million, 421 thousand tons of soybean meal worth $230 million, 1.1 million tons of soybeans for $641 million, 2.7 million tons of rapeseed for $1.7 billion and 1.09 million tons of sunflower for $616 million.
In May 2022, Ukraine exported the maximum volumes of sunflower oil since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation – 186 thousand tons, which is 23% more than the previous month.
In May, there was also a gradual increase in the countries-importers of Ukrainian oil – products were shipped to more than 60 countries of the world, although the EU countries remained its main consumers, the website of the APK-Inform agency reported on Friday.
According to him, Poland became the largest importer of Ukrainian oil, which accounted for 20% (37.2 thousand tons) of supplies of this product from Ukraine.
“Shipping to more distant countries of the world (25% of Ukrainian exports in May) is significantly limited by logistics, an increase in delivery time and, accordingly, its cost. At the same time, Turkey should be singled out among the main importers after the EU countries, where almost 12 thousand tons of sunflower oil,” the agency said in a statement.
The growth in sunflower oil exports indicates the adaptation of market participants to current realities and the gradual establishment of product supply chains through land border crossings and Danube river ports, the agency stated.
In turn, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the country exported 202.65 thousand tons of sunflower oil in May (+56% compared to April 2022), which is 8% higher than the data from APK-Inform.
The agricultural holding KSG Agro has signed a contract with a Ukrainian oil extraction plant for production of sunflower and soybean oil from its raw materials with subsequent export of finished products to the European Union, according to a press release from the agrarian group on Thursday.
“Our military realities are pushing for the search for new strategic solutions. So we decided that rapeseed and sunflower seeds will be processed, since there are more chances to sell such products abroad in the form of the same vegetable oil, ready for consumption, at a better price than just sunflower seeds,” KSG Agro quotes its board chairman Serhiy Kasyanov.
He recalled that the blockade of Ukrainian seaports due to Russian military aggression makes traditional supply chains and export supplies of grain and oilseed agricultural products impossible.
It is specified that the refinement and packaging of vegetable oil will be carried out in the EU countries, and relevant negotiations are currently underway with European partners.
Sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine to Europe will be transported by trucks, for which KSG Agro has already purchased flexitank containers in Turkey, which will allow transporting 22-24 tonnes of oil in conventional trucks.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding, as well as production, storage, processing and sale of grains and oilseeds. Its land bank is about 21,000 hectares.
According to the agricultural holding itself, it is among the top five pork producers in Ukraine.
Exports of sunflower oil from Ukraine in quantity terms decreased by 15.2% in 2021 compared to 2020, to 5.13 million tonnes, while in monetary terms exports increased by 20%, to $6.38 billion, according to preliminary data published on the website of the Ukroliyaprom association on Thursday.
According to preliminary information, in general, in 2021, Ukraine exported oil and fat products worth $8.56 billion (19.6% more compared to 2020), which is 12.6% of total exports of goods from Ukraine and 30.9% of its exports of agricultural and food products.
In the structure of exports of oil and fat products, vegetable oil accounted for 74.6% of the total supply, sunflower meal – 14.9%, soybean oil – 3.4%, soybean meal – 3.0%, rapeseed oil – 2.6%, and margarine – 1.1%.
According to Ukroliyaprom, the main importing countries of Ukrainian sunflower oil in 2021 were the EU countries, where 32% of total exports were supplied, as well as India (30.5%), China (15.3%), and Iraq (5.1%). Among the EU countries, the Netherlands (10.6% of total exports), Spain (7.4%), Italy (5.0%), France (3.0%) and the UK (2.7%) imported the most Ukrainian vegetable oil.
Delta Wilmar Ukraine LLC, a member of the group of the transnational corporation Wilmar International, on November 15 at the plant in the village of Novi Biliary (Odesa region) launched the tenth line for bottling sunflower oil under the Chumak brand, which will also become the second line for filling oil in containers of 1.8 liters, 3 liters and 5 liters, according to the company’s Facebook page.According to him, the sales market for products in containers of increased volumes is the Middle East and Africa, where people live mainly in large families and, accordingly, buy oil in large containers.The sunflower oil producer specified that its products are exported to 40 countries of the world.As reported, Delta Wilmar in 2020 opened a new workshop for processing and packaging margarine and fat products at an enterprise in Odesa region, investments in which amounted to more than $ 29 million.Delta Wilmar Ukraine LLC is part of the group of the transnational agro-industrial corporation Wilmar International, the market capitalization of which is estimated at $ 22 billion.In Ukraine, it owns two plants – one for processing tropical oils, the other for processing oilseeds, as well as a complex for transshipment of vegetable oils in Pivdenny port. All enterprises are located in the village of Novi Biliary, 30 km from Odesa.In the 2020/2021 marketing year (September-August), the company produced 153,000 tonnes of refined sunflower oil, its share in the Ukrainian product market was 16.6%.
Delta Wilmar Ukraine LLC, part of the group of the transnational corporation Wilmar International, plans to launch of the second bottling line for sunflower oil under the TM Chumak in three- and five-liter containers at a plant in the village of Novi Biliari (Odesa region), the company also brought the first bottling line launched in November 2020 to its design capacity.
“Our nearest plans are to launch a second line designed for large-volume bottles – three liters and five liters. The market for these products is the Middle East and Africa. Since people in these countries live mainly in large families, they accordingly buy oil in a large container,” Mykola Danyliuk, the leading specialist in the production and packaging of bottled products, said in a message of the company on Facebook.
Delta Wilmar said that 10 months after the launch of the first sunflower oil bottling line at this enterprise, the company brought production volumes to the design capacity – 3,000 bottles per hour for containers with a capacity of 2 liters and 6,000 bottles per hour for containers of 0.85 liter and 1 liter.
The company recalled that the volume of investments in the first bottling line exceeded $5.5 million, and 45 jobs were created.