Russia's export duty on sunflower oil to drop nearly 20% in May, sunflower meal to rise 1.4-fold - Agriculture Ministry

MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) - Russia's export duty on sunflower oil will drop 19.8% to 1,122.2 rubles per tonne in May from 1,398.9 rubles per tonne in April, while the duty on sunflower meal will rise 1.4-fold to 6,577.7 rubles per tonne in May from 4,777.6 rubles per tonne in April, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

The duty on sunflower oil will decline for the second consecutive month, while the duty on sunflower meal has been rising since December 2022.

The duties are based on indicative prices of $1,030.70 per tonne for sunflower oil versus $1,100.10 per tonne the previous month, and $285.20 per tonne for sunflower meal against $269.50 per tonne.

The duties are expected to be valid until August 31, 2023, inclusive.

Duties have been calculated in rubles since July 2022 rather than in dollars as previously. The Russian government adopted a resolution on converting the export duties on grain, sunflower oil, and sunflower meal into rubles and on extending the export duties on sunflower oil and meal for one year until August 31, 2023. The resolution was signed on June 30, 2022, and has been published on the official portal for legal information.

According to the resolution, the baseline price for calculating the export duty on sunflower oil is 82,500 rubles per tonne rather than the previous $1,000 per tonne, and the baseline price for sunflower meal is 13,875 rubles per tonne instead of $185 per tonne. "The average exchange rate of the U.S. dollar to the Russian currency that the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) sets five working days prior to the date of calculating the rate for the export customs duty on grain" will be the calculation formula for converting the duty into rubles.

The duty on sunflower oil is 70% of the difference between the baseline price of 82,500 rubles per tonne and the indicative price, which is the average market price for the month. The export duty for sunflower meal is calculated using a formula that is the difference between the indicative price and a baseline price of 13,875 rubles per tonne, multiplied by an adjustment factor of 0.7.