Export duty on Russian sunflower oil decreases 71.5% in May, duty on meal resets to zero - Agriculture Ministry

MOSCOW. May 4 (Interfax) - The duty on sunflower oil exports from Russia is 4,650 rubles in May compared to 16,222.4 rubles per tonne in April, according to a calculation provided by the Agriculture Ministry.

It has therefore decreased 71.5%.

The duty on sunflower meal exports reset to zero from 749.6 rubles per tonne in April. It has returned to the level seen from January to March this year.

The indicative prices used to calculate the duties were $1,291.8 per tonne for oil ($1,270.9 a month earlier), and $196.1 for meal ($203.8).

The duty rate is 70% of the difference between the base price and the indicative price (the arithmetic mean of market prices for the month).

The duties for May were calculated taking into account new base prices set by the government in April. Specifically, the base export price for sunflower oil increased from 82,500 to 90,750 rubles per tonne, and for sunflower meal from 15,875 to 17,463 rubles per tonne.

Russia introduced the "sunflower damper" mechanism on September 1, 2021. Initially, duties were calculated in dollars, and in rubles from July 2022.

In August 2024, the floating duties were extended immediately for two years - until September 1, 2026. In October 2025, the government extended them until August 31, 2028.