In March, Ukrainian companies exported more than 0.5 million tons of sunflower oil

In March, Ukrainian companies exported more than 0.5 million tons of sunflower oil

3 April 2023

Exports of sunflower oil in March were the largest since the start of the full-scale invasion, in total Ukraine exported 3.2 million tons of oil since the start of the 2022/23 season.

According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ukrainian companies exported 524,000 tons of sunflower oil in March, which was 29% (118,000 tons) more than the previous month. This is also one of the highest monthly sunflower oil exports figure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation.

In total, since the beginning of the season (September 2022), Ukraine exported almost 3.2 million tons of oil, flat y-o-y.

Ukraine sunflower oil export March 2023

According to our preliminary estimates, in the current season, in general, Ukrainian sunflower oil exports will amount to approximately 4.5 million tons (for comparison, the USDA estimate is 4 million tons). To achieve this indicator during the next five months (April - August 2023), exports should amount to about 1.3 million tons.

We expect that in the coming months, oil exports will decrease compared to March, but will be sufficient to reach the target mark of 4.5 million tons for the whole season.

As for sunflower seeds, contrary to our expectations last month, its export in March increased by 34,000 tons compared to February and amounted to 199,000 tons. One of the reasons for the increase, in our opinion, was the uncertainty with the extension of the Grain Corridor agreement, which formally ended in mid-March, another possible reason is the lack of competition among processors, which had a positive effect on crush margins, but also made sunflower exports profitable, despite existing administrative restrictions.

Since the beginning of the season, the total export of sunflower from Ukraine amounted to about 1.8 million tons (our preliminary expectations for the total export figure for the 2022/23 season are from 2 to 2.5 million tons, the USDA estimate is 2.65 million tons).

So in oil equivalent, 80% of sunflower in Ukraine is processed and exported as oil and meal, 20% - direct export of sunflower seeds.