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Ukraine's sunflower oil exports are expected to fall short of final 2020/21 agreed quotas due to a combination of high prices and the effects of COVID-19 on imports, the country's trade association AgriCensus reported on May 18.
The limit was imposed due to dry conditions that led to a disappointing sunflower seed harvest, sparking fears that demand from export markets could drive up domestic prices, the report said.
However, with a full quarter of the marketing year remaining, fats and oils industry association Ukroilprom told AgriCensus it was confident the limit would not be breached.
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From the start of the campaign in September until the end of April, exports reached 3.9 million tonnes, according to a combination of official customs data and alignment data. This represented a drop of 13.7% compared to the same period last year, according to the report.
This volume was equivalent to 72% of the 2020/21 export quota of 5.38 million tonnes, which had been agreed between the industry and government last month in a bid to maintain retail sunflower oil prices for the remainder of the AgriCensus campaign wrote.
“The drop in exports is a consequence of a series of factors. The decline in harvest is the main reason, but there are also other factors such as low demand and currently weaker prices impeding sales as crushers expect a price increase again,” an analyst at Ukroilprom told AgriCensus.
Sunflower oil exports in the remaining four months of the 2020/21 marketing year are expected to total 1.3 million tonnes, Ukroilprom told AgriCensus, bringing the total to 5.2 million tonnes, around 200,000 tonnes below quota .
Ukroilprom said it expects sunflower oil exports in May to total 454,000 tonnes and then fall to 365,000 tonnes in June, 275,000 tonnes in July and 173,000 tonnes in August.
Source: OFI Magazine
This text has been automatically translated from English.
