REUTERS
Sunflower oil exports may total 6.4 million tonnes.
Ukraine can significantly boost the production of sunflower oil and its exports in the 2019-2020 marketing year (MY, September 2019 - August 2020).
"By the end of MY 2019/20, the production of sunflower oil is expected to reach a record high of 6.6 - 6.7 million tonnes (2-3% up from MY 2018/19), exports will increase to 6.3-6.4 million tonnes (3-5% up)," the Ukroliyaprom Association said on its website.
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In MY 2019/20, Ukraine's oil and fat industry continues to boost the production and exports of oils, meal, margarine, and mayonnaise.
In particular, September 2019 through March 2020, margarine production increased by almost 20%, to 159,000 tonnes, that of sauces and mayonnaise by 13%, to 95,500 tonnes.
During the first half of the season, the production of raw sunflower oil increased by 11.7%, to 3.8 million tonnes and that of refined sunflower oil grew by 21%, to 536,000 tonnes.
According to the report, the gross harvest of sunflower seeds in 2019 was 15.2 million tonnes, which was 7.7% up on 2018.
As of April 1, 2020, ending stocks of sunflower seeds in warehouses totaled 6.2 million tonnes.
At the same time, the yield of sunflower seeds in 2020 is expected to be 5% lower than last year, not exceeding 15 million tonnes.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine in 2019 exported oilseeds worth US$2.5 billion, while sunflower oil exports amounted to US$4.3 billion. The largest importer of oilseeds was Germany (19% of all shipments), while India was the largest buyer of Ukrainian vegetable oil, accounting for 30%.