Ukraine increased exports of vegetable oils by 48% in September, but reduced exports of oilseeds by 53%

In September, Ukraine reduced agricultural exports by 6.5% compared to August to 3.7 million tons, which is 25% lower than the figure for September 2024, the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club reports.

This was due to a significant reduction in oilseed exports by 53% to 322.4 thousand tons due to the introduction of export duties. At the same time, the new duties contributed to an increase in vegetable oil exports by 48% to 313 thousand tons (of which the share of sunflower oil was 53%, rapeseed oil – 35%, soybean oil – 12%).

In September, Ukraine increased its rapeseed oil exports by 4.5 times compared to August to a record 108.8 thousand tons, of which 85% or 92 thousand tons were delivered to the EU, which also became a record figure for this direction and made Ukraine a leader among rapeseed oil suppliers to the EU.

According to the European Commission, in July-August, the main volume of rapeseed oil was imported from Kenya, but by the end of September, Ukraine had regained leadership in this ranking with a volume of 23 thousand tons (49 thousand tons for the same period last year).

The increase in rapeseed oil exports in September is due to the increase in domestic rapeseed processing after the introduction of an export duty on rapeseed on September 4. In conditions of uncertainty, farmers sold rapeseed on the domestic market, which allowed the processor to load capacity against the backdrop of a shortage of sunflower supply.

Recall that the previous maximum for rapeseed oil exports was 106 thousand tons, which were shipped in September 2023/24 MY. Overall, 2023/24 MY was a "peak" for rapeseed processing, which reached almost 1 million tons.

In September, agricultural exports from Ukraine decreased compared to August:

• grain crops – by 1% to 2.4 million tons (of which wheat – 86%, barley – 12%, corn – 2%,
• oilseeds – by 53% to 322.4 thousand tons (of which rapeseed – 73%, soybeans – 24%, flax – 2%).

Exports of pulp after oil extraction amounted to 281 thousand tons (sunflower - 62%, rapeseed - 38%), which corresponds to the level of last month, and exports of other types of agricultural products increased by 5% to 340 thousand tons.

Analysts expect exports to pick up in October due to an increase in the volume of harvested late crops and the regulation of the soybean and rapeseed export process.

At the same time, the EU plans to reduce rapeseed imports from Ukraine to a 4-year low due to the introduction of a 10% export duty and increase canola supplies from Canada, which, amid a good harvest, is reorienting its export flows from China and the USA to European countries.