Compared to the previous season, the supply for the world market has increased by 70%, and the increase may reach more than 5 million tons.
In mid-October 2022, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin spoke about Russia’s possible leadership in the world as an exporter of sunflower oil.
At the end of the 2021/2022 season, Russia ranked 5th in the world.
What allows Russia to become a leading exporter of sunflower oil?
On the one hand, this season’s record oilseed crop and large carry-overs have enabled oil refineries to significantly increase production volumes.
The remains of sunflower seeds from the previous season, in anticipation of a record harvest, stimulated the stable operation of processing plants at the start of the season.
Currently, many farmers in the Russian regions take their harvested crops directly to oil refineries.
As a result, the indicators of self-sufficiency of the country’s population with sunflower oil will exceed 200%.
According to preliminary estimates, the consumption of sunflower oil within the country will be about 3.2 million tons, respectively, the surplus will be exported.
On the other hand, Ukraine, which was the world’s leading exporter of sunflower oil, will obviously not deliver volumes comparable to last year to world markets this season.
In addition, in the current season, Ukraine has shifted its focus from the export of vegetable oil to the export of sunflower seeds, which further stimulated the global demand for processed products.
According to analysts, exports of Russian sunflower oil are expected to increase by 10% in the 2022/23 season.
Even if this year Russia takes the second place in the ranking of world exporters of sunflower oil, next season it has all the prerequisites to become a leader.
How are problems with logistics and financial support of transactions solved?
Logistical problems continue to have a significant impact on Russian exports, despite the fact that companies are actively working to solve them.
Large companies are actively moving towards the development of exports to Asian markets, in particular, to China, reorienting part of their shipments in this direction.
In the 2021/22 season, the main buyers of Russian oil were Turkey, India, China, Iran and Egypt.
The pool of major importers did not change much this year: the only thing that can be noted is the growth in supplies to China by almost 50% compared to the same period last year.
Speaking about logistics in general, exporters note a significant increase in the cost of chartering ships and insurance, which have increased by about 5 times over the past six months.
Summing up the intermediate results of the current season, experts note the fact that against the backdrop of a decrease in prices to the level of last year, an increase in exports should be expected, first of all, due to an increase in supplies in physical terms.
