Ukrainian sunflower oil displaces Russian from the Turkish market

Turkey, which reduced purchases of sunflower oil from Russia by about a third last year, remains a key and promising market for Russian exporters. This opinion was voiced by Mikhail Maltsev, Executive Director of the Oil and Fat Union of the Russian Federation, to the Russian publication Agroexport.

“Turkey is the main buyer of sunflower seeds and sunflower oil in the Black Sea region. It needs about 1.4 mln tons of sunflower oil per year to cover its domestic needs alone, and the same amount is exported from the country,” the expert said.

He reminded that Turkey had been the main buyer of Russian sunflower oil for the last few years, but in 2022, after the opening of the grain deal, Ukraine started actively exporting sunseed to the region, so the domestic production of sunflower oil increased, while the imports decreased.

“In addition, Turkey has switched to exporting oil from Ukraine, which was dumping it on the market until the end of 2023,” Maltsev explained. “But still, Turkey remains in third place in terms of imports of oil and fat products from our country.

According to the head of the industry association, last year Ukraine began to protect the processing sector more actively, supplying less sunflower abroad. In Turkey, however, the harvest of this crop was reduced due to earthquakes and unfavorable weather conditions.

According to the head of the industry association, last year Ukraine began to more actively protect the processing sector by exporting less sunseed abroad. In Turkey, however, the harvest of this crop was reduced due to earthquakes and unfavorable weather conditions.

“Therefore, we can expect at least the restoration of the previous volumes of sunflower oil sales to the Turkish market, and possibly their increase,” Maltsev summarized.

Tags: sunflower oil, Turkey, Ukraine