In the first half of 2021, exports of sunflower oil from Russia decreased by 15% compared to the same period in 2020 and amounted to 1.78 million tons.
The decrease was about 317 thousand tons.
At the same time, if you take a larger scale, you can see that Russian exports of sunflower oil are growing. For example, in 2020 it amounted to 3.66 million tons, which is 18% more than in 2019. The difference is 567 thousand tons.
If you look at the changes over 5 years, then the volume of exports increased by 153%, and if over 10 years, then by 916%.
Which countries buy sunflower oil from Russia?
There have been some changes in the structure of importers over the past year.
For example, in 2020, China was in first place in terms of export volumes, which purchased 21% of Russian sunflower oil exported. Turkey was in second place (slightly less than 18%). This was followed by India and Iran with a value of 12%, Uzbekistan — about 5%.
In the first half of 2021, Turkey climbed to the first place: 29%. After it, Iran with a value of 25%, then China — 13%. The list is closed by India and Egypt (5%).
As you can see, the main change was a significant reduction in imports of Russian sunflower oil from China.
Why have sunflower oil exports dropped this year?
One of the main reasons is the decline in its production in Russia. In the first half of this year, it decreased by 17% compared to the same period in 2020.
This applies, in particular, to refined sunflower oil, the production volume of which amounted to 1.1 million tons.
In turn, this is due to the relatively small sunflower harvest in Russia in 2020.
At the same time, the export of sunflower from the Russian Federation was high, because exporters were very attracted by prices on the world market. As a result, processing plants in the Russian Federation did not receive enough raw materials.
All this led to the introduction of emergency measures to remedy the situation in the domestic Russian market. Including — to the appearance of export duties on sunflower oil.
In the current season, the sunflower harvest also leaves much to be desired.
For example, the analytical agency APK-Inform predicted in the fall that this time the yield of sunflower could be the lowest over the past 5 years and be less than 16.3 centners per hectare. This means that oil exports in Russia may decrease even more next year.
