In W42 in the sunflower oil landscape, in the Oct-23 report, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised its global sunflower oil production forecast for the 2023/24 marketing year from 21.65 million metric tons (mmt) to 22.03 mmt. This exceeds the 21.5 mmt produced in the 2022/23 season. The forecast for Ukraine’s sunflower oil production increased by 379 thousand metric tons (mt) to 6.02 mmt, Argentina by 168 thousand mt to 1.69 mmt, and Russia by 166 thousand mt to 6.7 mmt. Additionally, the export forecast for sunflower oil in 2023/24 was raised by 725 thousand mt to 13.82 mmt, with Ukraine's forecast increased by 300 thousand mt to 5.6 mmt, Argentina's by 100 thousand mt to 1 mmt, and Russia by 100 thousand mt to 4.2 mmt.
Meanwhile, the forecast for sunflower oil imports saw an increase for India, rising by 500 thousand mt to 2.7 mmt, and for the European Union (EU), it increased by 100 thousand mt to 2.3 mmt. Sunflower oil consumption forecasts also saw an increase for India, up by 500 thousand mt to 2.8 mmt, while the EU's forecast remained unchanged at 5.4 mmt.
In Russia's Stavropol region, the 2023 sunflower harvest exceeded the 2022 harvest by 21%, reaching over 565 thousand mt, with an improved yield of 2.29 mt per hectare (ha). This success is attributed to favorable weather conditions and advancements in agricultural technology. In Bashkortostan, sunflower harvesting is underway on 60.6% of the planned 178,000 ha, with 266 thousand mt of oilseeds collected at a yield of 1.5 mt/ha. Furthermore, sunflower harvesting is progressing well in the Orenburg region, with 72% of the total area harvested, resulting in 971 thousand mt of sunflower threshed and an average yield of 1.19 mt/ha.
In Ukraine, as of October 19, sunflower harvesting has been completed on 86% of the intended 4.36 million ha, resulting in a yield of 2.34 mt/ha and a total of 10.21 mmt threshed. From July 1 to October 15, the EU imported slightly over 620 thousand mt of Ukrainian sunflower oil, an increase compared to the 460.4 thousand mt imported during the previous year.
In Uzbekistan, large enterprises produced 28 thousand mt of sunflower oil from Jan-23 to Aug-23, marking a 34% increase year-on-year (YoY). Notably, in Aug-23, these enterprises manufactured 6.2 thousand mt of sunflower oil. Additionally, Uzbekistan's import of sunflower oil has been on the rise. In the first eight months of 2023, Uzbekistan imported 87.4 thousand mt of sunflower oil from Kazakhstan, representing a 65% increase YoY.
Lastly, due to the lack of rain, the Buenos Aires agricultural entity has reduced the sunflower sowing projection for the 2023/24 campaign by 50 thousand ha to 1.95 million ha. Sunflower planting across the intended area has seen a weekly increase of 5.4% points, reaching 24.6% at the national level. Although there is a 5% interannual delay at the national level, there is an interannual advancement in sowing, averaging 6.3% points, particularly in the central-southern suitable area.