Egypt cuts imports of sunflower oil, but not Ukrainian

Egypt significantly reduced the imports of sunflower oil in the first quarter of MY 2024/25, preferring soybean imports and domestic processing.

According to ASAP Agri, in the period from September to November 2024, the imports of sunflower oil decreased by 3.3 times to 65.6 thsd tonnes, down from 217.5 thsd tonnes in the same period last year.

The biggest decline was recorded for sunflower oil from the EU, as supplies from the Netherlands and Bulgaria stopped completely. The imports of Russian oil also decreased sharply – from 88.1 thsd tonnes in MY 2023/24 to 39.6 thsd tonnes in the current season, while the Ukrainian supplies remained stable.

“The reason for the decline in sunflower oil imports and the shift to soybean imports and processing is the significant decline in demand due to inflation and currency crisis, which are killing the Egyptian demand for grains and oils,” said Ahmed El Hawary, the Head of the trading department of ALMAGD Group, one of the largest soybean processors in Egypt.

At the same time, the imports of soybeans increased by 63.5% yoy in the first quarter of the season, exceeding 1 mln tonnes. In particular, the supplies from the USA increased from 193 thsd tonnes to 741.5 thsd tonnes, which confirms the trend of Egypt’s transition from refined oil imports to the increase of domestic soybean processing.

Tags: Ukraine, sunflower oil, Egypt