It is planned that in June the duty on the export of sunflower oil will become zero, however, it is not planned to zero the duty on the export of sunflower itself.
So far, the oil export duty is at the level of 1,122 rubles per ton.
Its reset, the first since February, will allow Russian oil producers to sell their products abroad more profitably.
By the way, this applies not only to oil, but the duty on the export of meal is also reduced: in May it is 6,578 rubles per ton, and in June it will fall to 5,012 rubles per ton.
This is the first decline since last December.
True, the decrease in the duty on oil is largely offset by a decrease in world prices for this product.
As expert Alexander Korbut noted, thanks to last year’s record harvest, Russia is entering the new season with record sunflower stocks.
This makes it possible to increase exports, especially since Ukraine, which used to be Russia’s main competitor in this market, is losing its positions.
As a result, in the first quarter of this year, oil exports from Russia increased by 23% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 1.5 million tons.
China is in first place among importers, it bought 17 times more oil than in the first quarter of 2022. In second place are India and Turkey (120 million tons each).
Nevertheless, as Korbut noted, the period of high oil prices is most likely over for a long time.
Sunflower producers in a difficult situation
Back in March, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Victoria Abramchenko asked the Ministry of Agriculture to consider the possibility of reducing the export duty on sunflower, but in April the department decided not to take such a step.
As a result, the Russian market has turned into a “buyer’s market”: processors offer low prices, and there has even been a break in long-term contracts concluded at higher prices.
And that’s not all: huge lines of trucks lined up at the oil refineries, so that many seed suppliers cannot deliver the goods on time and receive money, which threatens them with default on their obligations.
At the same time, as Mikhail Maltsev, executive director of the Oil and Fat Union of Russia, noted, reducing or nullifying the duty on sunflower will not give a good result, just cheap raw materials will be exported to Turkey instead of an expensive end product, and Russian processors will also be left without work.
There are also fears that an increase in the supply of raw materials for export will further bring down the price of sunflower seeds.
