It is possible that already this year, processing capacities may grow by about 5%.
Currently, increasing raw material processing capacities is one of the most important tasks facing the entire oil and fat industry, experts say.
One of the drivers for this is the fact that the demand for vegetable oils and meal is growing every year in the world, and the growth rate here is noticeable — up to 4%.
This stimulates Russia, where oilseed production is largely export-oriented, to develop its own processing capacities.
It is expected that in 2024 their increase will amount to 5%, which will allow processing 35 million tons.
«The continuing annual growth of global demand for vegetable oils, fats and meal by about 4% stimulates the emergence of new oilseed processing capacities in Russia.
“The tasks set by the country’s president for the domestic agro-industrial complex to increase exports of processed products by 1.5 times by 2030 are also in the hands of processors,” the OleoScope website notes.
At the same time, 12 projects for the production of vegetable oils are currently being implemented in the country. 5 are being created from scratch, and 7 more are undergoing restructuring.
In general, it is worth noting that over the past 5 years, Russia has achieved significant success in terms of processing oilseeds.
During this period, the overall growth in processing capacity was 25%, while the processing of oilseeds within the country increased by 40%.
What problems can the oil and fat industry face?
One of these problems, according to experts, is that the more processing capacity, the greater the competition for raw materials, that is, for oilseeds.
This can cause negative processes for the industry, for example, the price hike for sunflower, which we observed last year.
The second problem is the availability of a sufficient volume of oilseeds produced in the country. At present, it is planned that this volume will grow, but new enterprises are being built taking into account the growth that should be achieved in the coming years.
If farmers for some reason decide to grow less oilseeds, it may turn out that processing capacities will also be idle.
This season, about 11.5 million hectares have been sown with sunflower, so farmers have good prospects for the harvest.
It is planned that, taking into account the needs of new processing enterprises, the area will need to be increased by 2-3 million hectares annually.
