Ukraine continues to increase sunflower oil supplies to India

Over the past three months, Ukraine has been increasing its exports of sunflower oil to India, and in July it increased by 57% compared to June to 78 thousand tons.

 

According to the Edible Oil Producers Association of India (SEA), in July the share of Ukrainian oil in total imports of this oil to India exceeded the share of Russian supplies for the first time in two years. Of the 200 thousand tons of sunflower oil purchased by India in July, the share of Ukrainian products was 39%, and Russian - 25% or 49 thousand tons. Before that, for a long time the share of Ukrainian oil in Indian imports fluctuated within 13-34%, but did not exceed the volume of purchases of Russian oil, which was the leader in the Indian market for the last few seasons.

 

However, in the second half of the season, Russian plants reduced sunflower oil production due to low processing margins, which sharply reduced export supply. In addition, the export duty on oil has been increasing for several months in a row, which has reduced the competitiveness of Russian sunflower oil in the Indian market, analysts at APK-Inform report.

 

In total, since the beginning of the season (from September to July), Ukraine has supplied 767 thousand tons of sunflower oil to India, which is 55% higher than the corresponding figure last year and is the maximum value since 2022. India remains the leader among importers of Ukrainian oil.

 

The sharp increase in palm oil prices contributed to India's increased purchases of sunflower oil, the prices of which, delivered to local ports, increased from $1,200/tonne in June to $1,220/tonne in July and $1,230-1,240/tonne in August. However, their growth was limited by low prices for soybean oil, which led to an increase in its supplies.