Sunflower meal prices fell in June, but exports reached record levels

In June, the volume of sunflower processing in Ukraine decreased by 36.36% compared to the record figures of May, against the background of a reduction in raw material stocks. At the same time, the export of sunflower meal decreased by 7% to 412 thousand tons, which became a record export figure for this month. In July and August, sunflower processing volumes will continue to decline, resulting in a shortage of sunflower meal and oil supplies, but meal prices will fall.

 

The June reduction in meal exports was caused by a 40% decrease in supplies to EU countries to 105,000 tons, which was the lowest export figure for this direction since May 2023. At the same time, sunflower meal exports to China grew for the third month in a row and in June increased by 3% to 214 thousand tons, which became the highest indicator for this direction since January 2023.

 

In FY 2023/24 (from September to June), Ukraine increased its exports of meal compared to the same period of the previous season by 21% to 4.2 million tons, which became the second highest indicator for this period after the record 4.5 million tons of the 2019 season /20.

 

EU countries remain the main buyers of meal, with an export share of 43%. For 10 months of the current season, exports in this direction grew by 32%.

 

We will remind that from July 2024, the EU introduced a duty on the import of meal from the Russian Federation and Belarus, which will be able to increase the demand for Ukrainian meal and support its prices.

 

Export prices for sunflower meal during the week fell by $4-5/t to $190-195/t, and overall fell by 16-18% for the month against the background of increased supply of feed grains and a significant drop in global corn prices.

 

Increasing supply of soybean meal from South America and rapeseed meal in the EU will remain the main factor in the pressure on sunflower meal prices in the near future.