What are the main import markets of sunflower oil?

*While this graph represents the main importers of “crude” sunflower oil, it is considered to be a more accurate indicator of the major importing countries of sunflower oil. This is because while China and India are the leading importers of crude sunflower oil, in terms of HS Code 15129 which does not include crude sunflower oil, they do not take up a big percentage. Imports of refined sunflower oil, in fact, are widely split between multiple countries, with top importer Belgium taking up only 7.1% of the worldwide import share.

China

According to the FAO, the Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged at 98.7 points in August 2020, an increase of 5.5 points (5.9%) compared to July, the highest since January. While the three-month-long growth is mostly attributed to palm oil, it is also considered to be affected by the rise in prices of soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oil. However, unlike rapeseed oil for which prices are high due to a decline in supply, sunflower oil prices are driven upward by high demand from China despite lower production and oil content for the products this season from the Black Sea.

India

According to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), in terms of crude sunflower oil, India’s imports of sunflower oil rose by 4% to 208.7K MT. Within India, sunflower oil imports increased by 13% during the first half of this marketing year (November 2019 to April 2020) while palm oil imports decreased by 29%. While the share of palm oil in imports was still high, there was a 64% reduction compared to the same period the previous year. This is because the demand for palm oil, which is predominantly consumed in the hospitality sector, such as restaurants and cafes, faltered during the pandemic and “soft oil” alternatives, considered to be “healthier” such as sunflower and soybean oil, were given preference for household consumption.