Ukraine’s sunflower oil exports lag usual pace by nearly 40%

In the first 15 days of September, Ukraine exported 131 thsd tons of sunflower oil, 38% below the usual 212 thsd tons for this period. This means that current shipments are running at around 60% of the typical pace.

This was reported by Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Taras Vysotskyi. According to him, the main factor behind the decline in exports remains logistics difficulties and the limited ability to quickly replace the Greater Odesa ports with alternative routes.

In the first half of September, around 60 thsd tons of sunflower oil were shipped by sea. Another 50 thsd tons were transported by rail, while approximately 20 thsd tons were delivered by road.

Thus, alternative overland routes accounted for more than half of current sunflower oil shipments, but they are still unable to fully offset the decline in seaborne exports. This is limiting the overall pace of shipments of one of Ukraine’s key agricultural export commodities.

Further sunflower oil export dynamics will depend on the availability of maritime logistics and the capacity of rail and road routes. If the current constraints persist, the gap from typical shipment volumes may remain significant.

Tags: export, Ukraine, sunflower oil