Moldova’s sunflower seed exports hit record high in 4 years

In the current agricultural season, the sunflower processing sector in the Republic of Moldova has experienced a strong decline, which is reflected in the structure of exports. While the export of sunflower seeds has set a new absolute record, reaching 532 thousand 243 tons – the highest volume in the last 4 seasons – the export of processed products – edible oil and meal, has significantly decreased.

In total, only 18 thousand 120 tons of oil and 14 thousand 211 tons of meal were exported in the current season, while in previous seasons the volumes of supplies of these products in total amounted to more than 300 thousand tons per year.

According to the analysis of agricultural market expert Yuri Rizhi, in the current agricultural season (July 2024 – April 2025), the share of sunflower exported in processed form (i.e. converted into oil and meal) has significantly decreased, amounting to only 7.4% of the total export volume of sunflower products.

“In other words, more than 92.6% of the total export volume was raw material – unprocessed sunflower seeds. This is a sharp decrease compared to previous seasons. Thus, in the 2023/24 season, the share of processed products was 48.2%, that is, almost half of the raw materials were processed into oil and meal within the country. In the 2022/2023 season, processing even took up a larger share: 67.8% of the total export volume was processed products. The current situation demonstrates a structural distortion of the value chain: from a balanced export model or even with an emphasis on processing, Moldova has degenerated into a primary economy based on the sale of raw materials. This phenomenon has direct economic consequences – through the loss of added value in the economy – and negatively affects the prospects for industrial development of the agri-food sector,” the expert explains. In April 2025, the Ministry of Economic Development of Moldova recognized the production of sunflower oil as the most affected industry. However, the authorities decided to exclude it from both the industrial investment support program and the electricity cost compensation scheme.

Tags: sunflower oil, export, sunseed, Moldova