Low sunseed harvest threatens Bulgaria’s processing industry

According to international agencies, in MY 2024/25  sunseed production in the Balkans and the Black Sea region will decrease by 5.86 mln tonnes from 38.86 mln tonnes to 33 mln tonnes compared to the previous season, which will not meet even pessimistic expectations.

The countries of the region are expected to harvest the following amount of sunseed:

Turkey – 1.3 mln tons,
Bulgaria – 1.45 mln tons,
Romania – 1.8 mln tons,
Ukraine – 12.5 mln tons,
Russia – 16 mln tons.

The quality of sunseed will also be worse than last year. According to AgroPortal.bg, the oil content of seeds in Romania will decrease from 44.03% to 43.08% in 2023, in Bulgaria – from 43.78% to 42.35% (and will be the worst in the region), while in Turkey it will increase from 43.36% to 43.69%.

While in 2023 Bulgaria imported almost 0.9 mln tons of sunseed from Ukraine, this year it will not be the case, as the reduced harvest in the region will complicate imports, and Ukraine will increase its own processing, which will increase competition.

Bulgaria’s crushing plants can process about 4 million tons of sunseed per year, while this year’s harvest will be only 1.5 million tons. This will reduce the prospects for processing and create significant risks for the Bulgarian processing industry, the agency notes.

Tags: sunflower oil, Bulgaria, sunseed