1 August 2023

In total, since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Ukraine has exported almost 5.2 million tons of sunflower oil, which significantly exceeds previous estimates.

According to preliminary data of customs statistics, Ukrainian sunflower oil exports in July amounted to more than 500,000 tons, which significantly exceeded our previous expectations, which were based on the assumption of a significant reduction in sunflower stocks in Ukraine.

Moreover, the export of sunflower oil in July exceeded the figure of the previous two months - in June, Ukraine exported 476,000 tons, in May - 453,000 tons.

The countries - largest importers of Ukrainian sunflower oil in the reporting month were Romania (about a quarter of the total volume) and India.

In total, since the beginning of the 2022/23 season, Ukrainian sunflower oil exports amounted to almost 5.2 million tons (for the same period last season – 4.1 million tons).

Ukrainian sunflower oil exports in the current season have already exceeded our expectations last month (5 million tons). For comparison, back in February-March we expected that the total export of oil in the current season would amount to 4.5 million tons, the USDA estimate at that time was 3.9 million tons).

Let us remind you that according to the final official data published by Ukrstat, the total sunflower harvest in Ukraine in 2022 comprised 11.3 million tons, compared to preliminary estimates of 10.4 million tons. This underestimation of the harvest in the preliminary data was one of the main reasons for the underestimation of exports made in February-March.

Our recent overview of the Ukrainian sunflower seeds and oil market is available at the link.