Experts note that since the beginning of the current year, sunflower processing remains unprofitable, as a result of which oil production has fallen.
The latest data show that since the beginning of 2025, the Russian Federation has sent about 1.7 million tons of sunflower oil abroad. During this time, the volume of deliveries has fallen by 38% compared to the same period last year.
But the reduction does not apply to all export destinations. For example, exports to the CIS countries increased by 30%, while to non-CIS countries they decreased by 45%.
It would seem that the fact that high prices for sunflower oil have been established on the world market at the moment should favor exporters.
But in fact, we see a different situation: due to its rise in price, many importers have switched to other alternatives, for example, palm and soybean oils. As a result, sales of sunflower oil are not as active as they could be.
Currently, Russian exporters face one of the key tasks — maintaining their presence in the markets of the main oil importing countries, which include Turkey and India.
This year, Turkey purchased about 550 thousand tons of oil from Russia, India — 505.
Other importers are far behind these two leaders. For example, Belarus purchased 140 thousand tons of oil from Russia, China — 115 thousand, Egypt — 75 thousand
In general, Russian farmers are now making efforts to, on the one hand, expand sunflower production, and on the other, modernize its processing.
This year, the area under sunflower increased by about 9%, which is quite a significant amount and, under favorable circumstances, can lead to an increase in the yield of this crop.
But, as always, much will depend on the weather, analysts emphasize. Already now, such an unfavorable phenomenon as drought is observed in a number of Russian regions.
As a result, the harvest may differ slightly from last year’s figures, even taking into account that more sunflower seeds were sown this season than usual.
At the same time, Russian oil producers have a negative assessment of the current situation in the industry.
«Unreasonably high purchase prices for raw materials, the decline in the dollar exchange rate and a relatively high export duty have led to the fact that since the beginning of the year, sunflower processing for export has been unprofitable,» the Oil and Fat Union notes.
However, there is hope that positive dynamics will appear in September, which will allow farmers to increase their profitability.
