In 2025/26 MY, Turkey will increase sunflower imports due to supplies from the EU

In a February report, USDA experts increased the forecast for sunflower imports to Turkey in the 2025/26 MY by 0.2 million tons compared to January estimates, to a 6-year high of 1 million tons, which would exceed the 2024/25 MY figure by 0.2 million tons.

This is due to increased sunflower imports due to a sharp reduction in domestic harvests after the drought to an almost 10-year low of 1.2-1.4 million tons.

EU countries (mainly Romania and Bulgaria), despite reducing their own production, supplied Turkey with over 758,000 tonnes of sunflower during September-November 2025/26 MY, which was 26 times higher than the corresponding figure of the previous season. This led to an increase in prices for sunflower and sunflower oil in the EU, resulting in a corresponding increase in imports of cheap sunflower from Argentina.

To increase processing margins, Bulgarian processors have been purchasing imported sunflower or rapeseed for several years, which has a lower price than local raw materials.

In the first 5 months of the 2025/26 MY, Ukraine reduced its exports of sunflower oil to Turkey by almost 30% to 60 thousand tons compared to the previous season, while exports from the Russian Federation decreased by 15% to 370 thousand tons during the same period.