Business representatives expect that next month, when selling sunflower oil abroad, duties will be at least half as much.
It is expected that in April 2025, the duty on sunflower oil will be at about 4,500 rubles per ton. For comparison, it is currently about 9,300 rubles per ton.
That is, we are talking about almost a twofold reduction, which is extremely noticeable.
The duty on meal may also decrease in a similar way, from 1,700 rubles per ton to 940 rubles per ton. And again, we are dealing with a change in the parameter by almost 2 times.
Why is it important for producers and exporters to reduce the duty on oil and meal?
The obvious reason for this is the difficult situation that has currently developed in the oil and fat industry.
— In particular, the purchase price of sunflower has increased because many producers are in no hurry to part with their products and are holding on to stocks.
Against this background, some oil extraction plants have already decided to stop production because they see no point in continuing it due to unprofitability.
— The strong ruble has led to the fact that selling oil abroad has become insufficiently profitable, since the producer now receives fewer rubles from each ton of oil than before.
All this has become a strong blow to oil producers and exporters.
“The margin of processors has been in the negative zone since January 2025, in February it reached minus 23% percent, in April, despite the reduction in export duties, it will remain at a level of more than minus 10%,” said Mikhail Maltsev, Executive Director of the Oil and Fat Union.
In this situation, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to take a step towards agricultural producers and revised the mechanism for calculating the export duty, the purpose of which is to reduce the excess profits of exporters and provide for the domestic market.
But in a situation where the «excess profits» of farmers are already almost minus, it is obviously time to reconsider the practice of using the duty.
However, experts warn that the reduction in duties in itself, although it will certainly be positive for the industry, will not solve all the existing problems.
The key problem at present is that the prices for sunflower seeds are too high.
This may even lead to a paradox, when carryover stocks may increase compared to last year, despite the fact that the production of this crop in the country is declining, while processing capacities, on the contrary, are growing.
Some experts are confident that the situation on the oil and fat market is unlikely to change in any way before the new sunflower harvest arrives.
