Ukrainian farmers again got a chance to sell sunseed at 28000 UAH/t, but prices may fall soon

This week, the purchase prices for sunseed in Ukraine continued to grow, reaching levels typical for October-November. This is due to increased purchases by processors, who were able to sell sunflower oil at high prices.

During the week, the price of sunseed with 52% oil content increased by 1000-1500 UAH/t to 27 500-28 000 UAH/t with delivery to the plant. At the same time, not all companies are making purchases, and many small processors are idle due to the inability to sell expensive sunflower oil.

Farmers should be careful, as the strengthening of the hryvnia, as well as lower prices for oil, palm and soybean oil in the near future may lead to a drop in prices for sunflower oil, which in turn will cause a collapse in sunseed prices. In addition, due to the low processing rates in the current season, the stocks of sunseed in the farms remain quite high.

According to Trading Economics, amid falling prices for palm oil, the average price of sunflower oil for delivery to buyers decreased by 2.4% to 1274 USD/t over the week, almost returning to the level of the beginning of the year.

Demand price of sunflower oil in Ukraine increased by 20-30 $/t to 1080-1100 $/t with delivery to the black sea ports, but the volume of both supply and demand remain low.

On the Bursa stock exchange in Malaysia, the March futures for palm oil during the week traded at 4191 ringgit/t or 943 $/t. Since the beginning of the year, the price of palm oil has decreased by 9.5% due to a decrease in export demand.

According to the estimates of Intertek Testing Services and AmSpec Agri Malaysia, the export of palm oil from Malaysia for the period from January 1 to January 20 decreased by 18.2-23%.

March futures for soybean oil on the Chicago stock exchange during the week steadily traded at 991 $/t (+11% for the month), supported by speculative growth in soybean prices. Market is waiting for the decision of the Trump administration to impose duties on China and Canada, which can significantly affect the trade relations of the United States with these countries and affect the price of soybeans and soybean oil from February 1.

The approach of the Chinese New Year (January 29-February 5) will reduce the global demand for vegetable oils, which will increase the pressure on the quotes.

Trump’s statements about increasing oil production in order to increase pressure on Russia have reduced oil prices by 3.8% over the week. This, in turn, may increase pressure on vegetable oil prices in the short term.

Tags: Ukraine, prices, sunseed