Russian govt suspends floating duties on sunflower oil, sunflower meal until Aug 31, 2025

MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax) - The Russian government has suspended the floating duties on sunflower oil and sunflower meal until August 31, 2025.

It said in a press release that this would allow exports to foreign markets to be increased while lending support to sunflower production and processing companies. The decision, taken by the government in response to a proposal by the Russian Oil and Fat Union, will be of particular relevance as autumn field work approaches.

According to the decree signed by the government on July 24 and published on the official legal information portal, the 0% duties on sunflower oil and sunflower meal will be in effect until August 31, 2025.

The government said in the press release that it had introduced the floating export duties on sunflower oil and sunflower meal starting from 2021 and 2022, respectively, with the aim of protecting the domestic market from unjustified price hikes. "In this way, we were able to incentivize producers to continue supplying the domestic market," it said.

The government said that demand for sunflower oil on the domestic market was fully satisfied at the moment, and the suspension of floating duties would therefore not have any impact on the product's availability for Russians.

As reported, the floating duties comprise 70% of the difference between the baseline price and the indicative price, which is the average market price for the month.

The baseline price for sunflower oil is 82,500 rubles per tonne and 15,875 rubles per tonne for sunflower meal. In August 2024, the duties were extended by two years until September 1, 2026.