USDA raises Turkey’s sunflower seeds demand forecast to six-year highs

In its February report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised its estimate for Turkey’s sunseed imports in the 2025/26 season to a six-year high of 1 million tons (up 0.2 million tons from the previous figure; up 0.2 million tons year-on-year).

The forecast, as noted, was adjusted to account for the current rate of raw material imports into the country, where last summer’s harvest was severely damaged by drought, reaching a 10-year low of 1.2-1.4 million tons.

As a result, the country has shifted to active purchases from abroad, not of finished products due to their high cost in the Black Sea region, but of raw materials for processing.

According to the USDA, EU countries shipped more than 758,000 tons of sunseed to Turkey in September-November 2025/26, 26 times more than last year.

In the first five months of the 2025/26 season, Ukraine reduced its sunflower oil sales to Turkey by almost 30%, to less than 0.06 million tons. Exports from Russia to the region also fell during the same period, to 0.37 million tons (-15% compared to the same period last year).

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, sunflower oil, Turkey, Black Sea region, sunseed