Turkey seeking new sources to import sunflower seeds

Turkey remains the top importer of sunflower seeds in the world with an annual import volume of 1,130 kmt in 2019 which makes up 30.6% of all the global sunflower seed imports. Turkey also produced 1,950 kmt of sunflower in the same year.

Turkey had imported 33.5% of sunflower seeds from Moldova, 23.2% from Romania, 19.6% from Russia and 7.5% from Bulgaria. With Romania and Russia banning sunflower seed exports due to the Covid19 outbreak, now Turkey is looking for alternative sourcing options.

Sunflower oil prices rose from 670 USD to 750 USD per ton in the global market place due to the export restrictions instituted by the main export countries.