Low sunseed harvest may encourage Turkey to reduce current high import duties

The experts of Oil World (Germany) reduced the estimation of the sunflower seed harvest in Turkey in 2023/24 MY to 1.35 mln tonnes, compared to 1.86 mln tonnes harvested in the previous season. At the same time, different market participants point to the further reduction of the production – to 1.2 mln tonnes.

The sharp decline in sunseed harvest due to the extreme heat and drought in the country casts doubt on whether the Turkish government will maintain the current high import duties on sunflower seeds and oil as originally planned.

As a reminder, the introduction of high import duties and accumulated sunseed stocks at the beginning of 2023/24 MY (390 thsd tonnes compared to 40 thsd tonnes at the beginning of the previous season) restricted the imports of sunflower oil in August and September of this year.

Thus, since the beginning of the current season Turkey imported only 56 thsd tonnes of sunflower seeds and 203 thsd tonnes of sunflower oil, down from 324 thsd tonnes and 471 thsd tonnes in July-September of 2022/23 MY.

At the same time, the active growth of oil exports from Turkey is worth noting. In particular, the country shipped 68 thsd tonnes of the product in September. The total exports for the last quarter are estimated at 192 thsd tonnes, up 8% compared to July-September of 2022/23 MY. Ethiopia is the largest market for Turkish oil (50 thsd tonnes). In addition, shipments are made to Iraq, Sudan, Yemen and Syria.

Tags: sunflower oil, Turkey, sunseed, crop forecast