Sunseec prices in Ukraine continue to rise amid farmers' sales restraint

A new wave of frost and snowfall in Ukraine has once again slowed down grain deliveries to ports, while processing plants have only just resumed operations in anticipation of a seasonal increase in sunseed supply, trying to sell oil at high prices.

During the week, purchase prices for sunflower seeds in Ukraine increased by another 500 UAH/t to 30,000-31,000 UAH/t or $610-630/t excluding VAT (for 50% oil content) with delivery to the plant, while processors in ports are willing to pay more for large batches, although plants within the country are provided with raw materials and operate more stably.

The increase in demand prices for sunflower oil by $10-20/t to $1,285-1,290/t with delivery to ports allowed processors to increase purchase prices for sunseed.

At the same time, demand prices for sunflower oil delivered to India remained at $1,400-1,410/t CIF Mumbai during the week under pressure from falling palm oil prices.

May palm oil quotes in Malaysia fell by 5% to $1,030/t in two weeks due to a 15% reduction in exports in 15 days of February compared to the same period in January.

The news of the sale of about 300,000 tons of sunseed from Argentina to Bulgaria has lowered prices for sunflower oil in the EU, so Ukrainian processors are rushing to sell the oil at still high prices.

From February 1 to 11, Ukraine exported 134 thousand tons of sunflower oil (mainly to EU countries), while in January exports amounted to about 393 thousand tons, and in December – 550 thousand tons.

Holidays in China and reduced demand in India will limit the growth of sunflower oil prices, so processors in Ukraine will be cautious in purchasing sunflower seeds, although temperatures are expected to rise and sunseed supplies to increase this week.

In Argentina, as of February 12, more than 2 million tons of sunseed have been harvested from 36.4% of the area, with a yield of 2.2 tons/hectare. According to the weekly report of the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange (BAGE), in the main sunseed growing regions (south of Buenos Aires and La Pampa), about 75% of the crops are in excellent or good condition, but mass harvesting will not begin until late February or early March.