Black Sea export halt sends Russian sunflower oil production sharply lower

Russia’s sunflower oil production fell by almost a third year-on-year in August 2026 to 0.3 mln tons. Compared with July, output dropped by 34.1%, according to Rosstat data.

The main reason for the sharp decline was the effective halt of vegetable oil exports through the Azov-Black Sea basin. In late July, following an attack, EFKO’s oil terminal in Taman suspended operations. The facility is one of the key export outlets for Russian vegetable oils.

The sharp reduction in export capacity led to an accumulation of finished product stocks, forcing processors to cut capacity utilization and sunflower seed crushing volumes. Logistics restrictions were the decisive factor behind the decline in production in August.

At the same time, Russia produced 4.7 mln tons of sunflower oil in January-August 2026, up 2.2% from the same period in 2025. Full-year production in 2025 totaled 7.2 mln tons, down 12.4% from 2024.

Tags: Russia, sunflower oil, export