Russia to convert sunflower export duty to rubles

MOSCOW. Sept 1 (Interfax) - The Russian government has decided to convert the export duty on sunflower seeds to rubles.

The duty, which will be in effect from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024, has been set at 32,000 rubles per tonne, according to a resolution (No. 1405) to amend export duties on goods shipped from Russia outside the customs area of the Eurasian Economic Union that was signed on August 30 and posted on the website for legal information.

The duty was previously 50%, but at least $320 per tonne. This duty was introduced on July 1, 2021 and was initially in effect until August 31, 2022, but then it was extended to August 31, 2023.

Experts said the duty is prohibitive. Sunflower inventories at agricultural organizations totaled 597,500 tonnes at the end of July, 50% more than a year earlier, data from the Federal Statistics Service showed.

Russia could harvest a record 16.596 million tonnes of sunflower seeds this year, compared to 16.357 million tonnes in 2022, ProZerno forecast.