Palm oil prices continue to fall, and Argentina completes a good sunflower harvest, increasing pressure on prices in Ukraine

Sunflower purchase prices in Ukraine remain high amid a shortage of offers from farmers who expect further price increases, but the completion of a large sunflower harvest in Argentina and a seasonal increase in palm oil production are putting pressure on sunflower oil quotes. In the 2024/25 MY, Argentina increased sunflower sowing areas due to excessively dry weather during the soybean sowing period, and subsequent rains allowed for a significantly better harvest than in the previous season. As of April 5, sunflower had been harvested on 75.6% of the area, and at the end of the harvest, experts from the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange increased the harvest forecast by 5% to 4.5 million tons, which will exceed the previous season's production by 16%. The average yield will be 2.38 t/ha, which will exceed the 5-year and 10-year averages. Recall that in the April report, the USDA increased the forecast for sunflower production in Argentina in 2024/25 MY by 5% to 4.2 million tons, ...