Main points
- In March, China increased imports of sunflower meal to 352 thousand tons, where Ukraine became the largest supplier with 233 thousand tons.
- Ukraine also achieved record rapeseed meal exports, refocusing on Asian markets, including China, Turkey, and Israel.
Ukrainian sunflower meal / Photo Agrozernoholding
China sharply increased its imports of sunflower meal in March, almost quadrupling year-on-year. The largest supplier of the product was Ukraine, which is strengthening its position in the Asian market.
Ukraine leads the supply of sunflower meal to China
In March, China significantly increased imports of sunflower meal – to 352 thousand tons compared to 90 thousand tons a year earlier, writes ukragroconsult.com. Thus, the volume of purchases increased almost fourfold.
The leader among suppliers was Ukraine, which shipped 233 thousand tons of products. Russia took second place with 82 thousand tons, and Kazakhstan took third place with 37 thousand tons.
At the same time, China increased its imports of rapeseed meal by 17 percent to 294 thousand tons. In this segment, Russia and India hold the first positions, while Ukraine took fourth place with a volume of 39 thousand tons.
Sales markets are changing: the EU is losing ground
According to APK-Inform, this season Ukraine has already achieved record rapeseed meal exports – 494 thousand tons. This is 2.4 times more than in the same period of the last marketing year.
The growth was made possible by active rapeseed processing and increased product margins. At the same time, there is a noticeable shift in the geography of exports.
Shipments to the European Union fell by almost 49 percent, while China became the largest importer of Ukrainian meal for the first time. In addition, shipments to Turkey and Israel increased significantly, indicating a reorientation of Ukrainian exporters to new markets.
Sunflower oil prices rise faster than oil: the processing market is under pressure
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Sunflower seed prices in Ukraine increased by $9 per ton, reaching $744 per ton.
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Processing is under pressure due to rising raw material costs, which outpace the rise in prices for finished products.
In April, the export structure began to change in favor of sunflower oil, the volume of which reached 332 thousand tons. The main supply destinations were Turkey, Spain and Italy.