Hungary: The price of cooking oil will be brutal, the current rise in prices is just the beginning

Published May 14, 2021

Tridge summary

The article explains the significant rise in the prices of sunflower oil and seeds in Hungary, with the average price of sunflower oil increasing from HUF 481 to HUF 635 within a year due to increased global demand, particularly from China and Iran. The high demand is driven by China's efforts to recover its pig population lost to African swine fever. As a result, producer prices for oilseeds like soybeans, sunflower, and canola have surged, with no further increase in world market prices expected but a potential stagnation. The new crop in Brazil and Argentina may impact prices. Despite the anticipated expansion in sown areas, experts predict that this will not lead to lower prices as growers have not been paid as much for sunflower and canola in the past. They also expect the prices of cooking oil and margarine to continue rising next year due to higher raw material costs.

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

Original content

The CSO has been reporting a similar increase for months. Browsing through the monthly average prices of individual products and services, it can be seen that while in February last year the average consumer price of sunflower oil was HUF 481, it increased month by month, reaching HUF 635 by February this year (this is the latest figure). Producer prices also started to rise after the beginning of last year, in January the average kilo of sunflower seeds was only 110.7 forints, then by January this year it had risen to 153.3 forints - wrote 24.hu. According to agricultural economist György Raskó, the sudden and significant price increase is due to the fact that the demand for oilseeds has increased significantly, mainly due to large-scale purchases from China and Iran, which is pushing up producer prices. And Chinese demand has been fueled by steam-powered attempts to rebuild their pork business. Due to the African swine fever, about half of China’s pig population has had to be ...

Source: Agrarszektor