Sunseed prices in Ukraine increased amid a shortage of supply

During the week in Ukraine, the price of sunseed with oil content of 50% increased by 200-300 UAH/t to 25800-26300 UAH/t with delivery to the plant amid restraint of sales by producers, but processors began to buy SFS only for the sold volumes of oil, the demand prices for which have fallen sharply.

In the December report, the USDA experts unexpectedly raised the forecast of the world sunseed production in MY 2024/25 by 0.07 to 50.512 (56.03) mln tonnes, in particular, for Ukraine – by 0.4 to 12.9 (15.5) mln tonnes, for Russia – by 0.3 to 16.3 (17.1) mln tonnes, while for Argentina the estimate was left at 4 (3.9) mln tonnes. At the same time, according to the official data, Ukraine harvested only 10.1 mln tonnes of sunseed from 4.9 mln ha or 97% of the area, while in Russia local agencies estimate the harvest at 15.8 mln tonnes. The forecast of world sunseed consumption was increased by 0.1 to 51.313 (56.67) million tons, while the estimate of ending stocks was reduced by 0.01 to 2.27 (3.2) million tons.

Also, USDA raised the forecast of global sunflower oil production in 2024/25 MY by 0.55 to 19.96 (22.13) mln tonnes, in particular for Ukraine – by 0.18 to 5.4 (6.75) mln tonnes and Russia – by 0.13 to 6.61 (6.82) mln tonnes. The forecast of world sunflower oil exports was increased by 0.3 to 12.33 (15.04) million tons, in particular for Ukraine – by 0.18 to 5 (6.26) million tons and Russia – by 0.13 to 4.08 (4.4) million tons, and the estimate of ending stocks – by 0.13 to 2.22 (2.95) million tons.

Cheaper palm oil and forecasts of increased production of sunflower oil increase pressure on the price of sunflower oil, which this week remained at 1100-1115 $/t with delivery to the ports of the black sea and 1150-1160 $/t with delivery to Poland or Bulgaria.

According to the USDA report, the January futures for soybean oil on the Chicago stock exchange fell 1.7% to 936 $/t (-8.9% for the month), responding to the increase in the forecast of world soybean production.

Quotes for palm oil for two sessions fell by 5.4%, despite lower forecasts of its production, exports and stocks, which will also increase pressure on prices of sunflower oil.

Tags: Ukraine, sunflower oil, prices, sunseed