Everyone knows that every second ton of sunflower oil on the world market “comes” from Ukraine. At the same time, in 2020, the export of sunflower oil from Ukraine once again grew both in natural and value terms, respectively by 12.3% and 24.4%. Basically, this ensured the growth of the Ukrainian oil and fat market.
However, in addition to sunflower, there are other vegetable oils.
In general, the growth of production and export of vegetable oils today in Ukraine will not surprise anyone. This is one of the main trends in the Ukrainian agricultural market. Especially the last 5 years — since 2017. Last year was no exception, when, according to the State Statistics Service, Ukrainian farmers grew 18.5 million tons of oil crops, processors produced about 7.4 million tons of sunflower, soybean, and rapeseed oils, 6.6 million tons of which were sent to foreign countries by exporters markets And taking into account the export of safflower, cottonseed and other oils, which are included in the same position as sunflower, the volume of last year’s oil export totaled 7.3 million tons for $5.32 billion. Exporters, according to State Statistics Service of Ukraine, put only safflower oil on foreign markets 367 thousand t for $327 million.
So, what is the “portrait” of today’s Ukrainian vegetable oil market in statics and dynamics? Since this is an export-oriented industry, the best representation of the market is given by export indicators. So, according to UBTA, in 2020, Ukraine exported vegetable oils and ready-made edible fats for $5.76 billion. At the same time, the share of this segment in the total volume of agricultural exports reached 25.9%.
Simply put, today in Ukraine, every fourth dollar from agricultural exports and every tenth dollar from exports is generally allocated to revenues from export sales of vegetable oils.
At the same time, Ukrainian vegetable oil and ready-made vegetable fats, according to UBTA, are sold in 155 foreign markets and exported by 760 companies. The four main regions of presence of Ukrainian oils are Europe, Southeast Asia, Asia and the Middle East. The share of deliveries to these regions is 93% of the total revenue from oil exports. Another 4% of income comes from the export of oils to African countries. Thus, in insignificantly small volumes, Ukrainian oils are represented only on the territory of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, etc.), in Australia and the USA.
And most of the oils from Ukraine are sent to Europe and Southeast Asia, which is not surprising, since the “big three” importers of Ukrainian sunflower, soybean and rapeseed oils are the EU countries, China and India.
As for the dynamics, the general situation on the market is perfectly illustrated by the expansion of Ukrainian sunflower oil to foreign markets. According to the data of the association “Ukroliyaprom”, since 1998, the export of sunflower oil has increased 33 times – from 206.1 thousand t to more than 6.8 million t.
Today, sunflower oil accounts for more than 93-94% of the export volume of all vegetable oils. For example, at the end of 7 months of 2021 — 94.6% (according to Ukroliyaprom data). And in 2020, in the structure of the export of the three main vegetable oils, according to State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the export of sunflower oil accounted for 93.6%. Soybean oil played the role of “second fiddle” in the market — 4.6%. And the share of export of rapeseed oil was equal to 1.8%.
Sunflower oil: half the world is ours
Perhaps you will be surprised, but there were times when sunflower and soybean oil were imported to Ukraine. In 1998, a presidential decree allowed duty-free import into Ukraine of 100,000 t of sunflower oil and 20 thousand tons of soybean oil from Argentina and Turkey.
Today, such a “trick” is even theoretically impossible, and Turkey imports Ukrainian sunflower oil. According to UBTA, in 2020, 1.2% of this Ukrainian product was exported to the country. Although it is among the top three world leaders in terms of sunflower oil exports.
At the same time, the share of Ukrainian butter on the world market in 2020 was 49.76%. And this is not a limiting indicator. According to “Ukroliyaprom”, in some periods the “sunflower” share of Ukraine in international markets exceeded 52-55%.
But in any case, in terms of the volume of sunflower oil exports, Ukraine is now in first place in the world. At the same time, for the last 4 years, according to State Statistics Service of Ukraine data, export volumes to international markets (including safflower and cottonseed oils) have been continuously growing. For example, 5.1 million tons were delivered in 2017, 5.8 million tons in 2018, 6.1 million tons in 2019, and 6.8 million tons in 2020. Growth in 4 years — 1.6 million tons.
Indicative and dynamic. Since 2011, the number of export markets — countries where Ukrainian sunflower oil is sold for more than $10,000. per hour — increased from 42 to 113 or even more, if EU countries are considered separately. The number of exporters in 2020 is 469 companies.
In 7 months of 2021, according to State Statistics Service of Ukraine data, Ukraine exported 2.89 million tons of sunflower oil (including safflower, cotton and their fractions) for $3.53 billion. At the same time, the “big six” imported the moat of the Ukrainian “Oliya” is traditional for the last few years. For example, 798 thousand “settled” on the Indian market in the current season. t of Ukrainian sunflower oil, 506 thousand tons on the Chinese market. t, in the Netherlands – 285 thousand. t, in Iraq – 231 thousand. t, in Spain — 209 thousand. t and in Italy — 138 thousand. t. Sudan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, Poland, France, UAE, Malaysia and Italy imported 31 thousand t up to 71 thousand t. Other countries — in volumes of less than 30 thousand In general, the lion’s share of the export of sunflower oil from Ukraine falls on 4 directions: the EU, China, India and Iraq. According to UBTA, in 2020 – 82.2%.
From state exotics: in 2021, 2.7 kg of sunflower oil was exported to the Virgin Islands for free, 18.5 kg to Liberia for free, and 46 kg for $300 to Kuwait.
It should also be mentioned that the situation on the Ukrainian sunflower oil market is not as ideal as it might seem. Volatility of prices on the world “oil” market, price rallies and a record increase in the prices of vegetable oils in the Ukrainian retail led to the fact that the Ministry of Economy signed a memorandum with the association “Ukroliyaprom” in April to limit the export of sunflower oil in 2020/2021 in the amount of 5.38 MG million tons. As of the beginning of August, that is, for 11 months of the marketing year, exporters delivered 5.28 million tons to foreign markets. Although now this is no longer important, since the new 2021/2022 fiscal year began in September, and the restrictions have expired.
At the same time, according to the “Administration of Seaports of Ukraine” (AMPU), at the end of the first half of 2021, the volume of transshipment of vegetable oils in the seaports of Ukraine decreased by 25.1% compared to the same period in 2020 — the ports transshipped only 2.54 million tons
Although, in general, the forecast for the market remains optimistic. “Ukroliyaprom” and USDA predict that in 2021/2022 MG Ukraine will export 6.4-6.6 million tons of sunflower oil, that is, 1 million tons more than it was foreseen in the April memorandum.