Ukraine to increase sunflower oil production if Hungary, Poland refuse to buy Ukrainian sunflower - specialized association

MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Hungary has purchased more sunflower, while Poland has bought less of it from Ukraine for the needs of their processing enterprises in the 2022-2023 marketing year, and if they impose a ban on Ukrainian agricultural products, in particular, on sunflower, it will remain more for processing by Ukrainian enterprises, CEO of Ukroliaprom association Stepan Kapshuk said.

"Poland and Hungary are not large consumers of our products. Our products - oils, meal - used to be shipped to Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy. To date, it is not those huge volumes that could make our plants stop," he said in a statement to the Ukrainian media.

As the Ukroliaprom head said, Ukrainian plants have already processed about 70% of sunflower seeds by now. Large export supplies of oils and meal are not expected now, as there are less sunflower leftovers in Ukraine, which need to be processed before the new harvest.

"The oilseed processing season ends on September 1. We still have five more months to work," Kapshuk said, expressing confidence that the oilseed industry will adapt to the new export conditions.

He said 71% of oil and meal are being exported via the grain corridor, 10% by rail, and the rest by road transport.

"There are very many loaded vehicles standing in line at the border now. This oil mainly goes not to Poland, but in transit to the Baltic countries, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and others," Kapshuk said.

The CEO of association said that in March, Ukraine exported 7.5 million tonnes of agricultural products, and the share of oils and meal in this volume amounted to 6.5%, but it brought 30% of foreign currency revenue of the total Ukrainian agrarian export. "Every third dollar in the agricultural sector is oil. Indeed, exports via the European Union are important, but we are following the situation along the 'grain corridor' more closely," he said.

Speaking of possible losses of Ukrainian exporters that could arise following the closure of the Polish market, Kapshuk said that Ukraine exports 500,000 tonnes of oils and meal every month, while Poland buys between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes of oil. "It is quite difficult to track how much is left in Poland now and how much goes further in transit," he said.

In addition, according to Ukroliaprom, Poland, which has developed cattle breeding, especially poultry, bought the lion's share of Ukrainian soybean meal and soybean oil for the needs of this sector. "Poland is unlikely to give up these commodity items easily and find a replacement for them. The same applies to other European countries," Kapshuk said.

He also noted that they were awaiting the official documents and lists of banned products. "If the oils and meal end up there officially, we will look for other export options and bypasses. This is real life," he said.

Kapshuk also said that oil producers would ask the Agrarian Policy Ministry to prioritize value-added products for export. They see understanding on the part of the agrarian policy minister as well as hope that "common sense will triumph over emotions" in European countries.