Oilseed processing capacity in Ukraine growing faster than production, creating raw material shortage

times, while processing capacity has increased 2.2 times. The analyst notes that Ukraine is running out of available land resources. The potential for new crop area expansion in the next 3–5 years is limited to only 1.5–2 million hectares. At the same time, farmers are switching part of their fields to more profitable crops, primarily corn, which this season generates around $1,000 profit per hectare — twice as much as sunflower. Sunseed, despite remaining the country’s leading oilseed crop, is showing one of its weakest performances in recent years. According to Analytical Baton, the 2025 harvest is expected to reach only 10–10.5 million tons. Due to adverse weather and drought, yields have dropped by 11% compared to 2023. Moreover, the entire sunflower crop will be consumed domestically, putting additional pressure on the raw material market. As for soybeans, after several years of steady growth, acreage in 2025 fell by 24% to 2.1 million hectares. The decline was driven by ...