Bulgaria. The 2024 shortage of sunflower seed increases the crushers’ risks

Published 2025년 3월 11일

Tridge summary

Bulgaria has transformed its sunflower seed (SFS) export business into a sunflower oil and meal export business after investing significantly in processing capacity between 2022 and 2023. The primary markets for Bulgarian oil include India and South Africa, while China, Israel, and Morocco are the main markets for sunflower meal. The USA, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK are the key markets for refined sunflower oil. However, a predicted shortage of SFS in 2024 due to a reduced harvest and lost imports from Ukraine could lead to stable oilseed processing issues and an increase in SFS prices. This problem is also expected to impact Romania in 2025.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Bulgaria was SFS exporter, but significant private investment in processing capacity in 2022-2023 turned the country into a sunflower oil and meal exporter. The main markets for Bulgarian oil are India and South Africa, for sunflower meal – China, Israel and Morocco, and for refined sunflower oil – the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. In 2024, shortage of sunflower seed increases the risks of stable oilseed processing. Many plants are shutting down and/or announcing a further increase in SFS prices. The low SFS harvest in 2024 (1.42 M mt) and the loss of SFS imports from Ukraine, as it was in 2022-2023, leads to a surplus of processing capacity. The problem is already regional. In Romania, a shortage and an increase in SFS prices are also possible in 2025. Full version of the article is available to subscribers of the ...

Source: UkrAgroConsult