In 2022 for the first time the largest Ukrainian oilseeds were bought by Romania, vegetable oil by Poland

The commodity structure of Ukraine’s agricultural exports is traditionally dominated by crop products. In addition to grains, the main products are oilseeds, vegetable oil, and their processed products.

According to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, in 2022, the value of exports of oilseeds and fruits amounted to almost USD 3.8 billion. USD. This is 54% more than in 2021, said Mykola Pugachev, Deputy Director of the National Research Center “Institute of Agrarian Economics”, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The quantitative volumes of supplies of the main commodity items of this group to foreign markets have roughly doubled. Exports of rapeseed in physical terms increased from 2.7 mln tons in 2021 to 3.1 mln tons in 2022, and soybeans, respectively, by 0.9 mln tons to 2.0 mln tons. The most noticeable and multiple growth was the increase of sunflower exports – from 0.08 mln tonnes in 2021 to 2.8 mln tonnes in 2022, the scientist informed.

According to him, the main buyers of Ukrainian oilseeds and oil in 2022, as in previous years, are the countries of Asia and Europe.

The characteristic feature of 2022 was the further strengthening of the European Union’s position among the markets for fruits and seeds of domestic oilseeds. Last year, the countries of this region purchased more than 3/4 of the total value of all oilseeds from Ukraine, noted Mr. Pugachev.

According to him, Germany, which held the leading position among the importers of Ukrainian oilseeds since 2018, lost last year to Romania, which in 2021 was not even among the top 20. In 2022, this country purchased about 1/5 – 18.6% – of Ukrainian exports of this type of agricultural products.

The second place with a share of 13.7% was regained by Turkey, which in 2021 lost to Belgium.

Poland, which in 2021 was not among the top 10 major buyers of domestic oilseeds, confidently took the third place (12.7%).

Bulgaria is also a newcomer in the top 10, with the share of 11.5% last year.

Germany, whose share decreased from 23.9% in 2021 to 8.1% last year, took fifth place in this list.

Hungary, which also entered the rating of the main importers of oilseeds from Ukraine, secured the share of 7.1%.

In total, these six countries brought Ukraine almost 72% of export revenues from all foreign supplies of oilseeds.

In 2022, the decrease in exports continued for soybean oil – 237 thsd tonnes (-2%), and the decrease in rapeseed oil – 66 thsd tonnes (-60%), the expert informed.

In the group of fats and oils, domestically produced sunflower oil remains the key commodity for export markets. In 2022, Ukraine exported 4.3 mln tonnes of the product, down 16% compared to 2021. Revenues from the sale of sunflower oil amounted to USD 5.5 billion. This is 14% lower than in the previous year, said Mr. Pugachev.

According to him, in 2022, there were significant changes in the ranking of the main oilseed buyers.

For the first time, Poland topped the top 10 with a share of 13.3%, displacing India (13.0%), which has been the leading importer of this type of agricultural product for more than 10 years.

A significant share of foreign supplies of this type of agricultural product is exported to Turkey (11.2%).

Other important importers of domestic sunflower oil have lost ground to them: Romania (7.2%), the Netherlands (6.6%), China (6.0%), Italy (5.4%), Bulgaria (4.9%), Spain (4.4%), and Iraq (3.3%).

Together, these countries accumulate more than 75% of the value of Ukrainian oil supplies to foreign markets, summarized Mr. Pugachev.

Tags: Ukraine, sunflower oil, Bulgaria, sunflower, Turkey, export, Romania, Poland, Spain, India, Germany, Iraq, Netherlands