In the last three months, Ukraine has been actively increasing exports of sunflower oil to India. In July, supplies increased by 57% compared to June - up to 78 thousand tons. This is reported by Dengi.ua with reference to Electronic Grain Exchange of Ukraine .
According to the Food Oils Association of India (SEA), this allowed Ukraine to surpass Russia in terms of supplies to the Indian market for the first time in two years. Of the 200,000 tons of sunflower oil bought by India in July, 39% was Ukrainian products, while Russian products accounted for only 25% (49,000 tons).
"Before that, for a long time, the share of Ukrainian oil in Indian imports fluctuated between 13-34%, but did not exceed the volume of purchases of Russian oil, which has been the leader in the Indian market for the last few seasons," the report said.
In the second half of the season, Russia significantly reduced sunflower oil production due to low refining margins. This led to a decrease in export supply. In addition, export duties rose for several months in a row, which further reduced the competitiveness of Russian products on the Indian market.
Against this background, Ukraine significantly increased supplies. Since the beginning of the season (September-July), exports of Ukrainian sunflower oil to India reached 767 thousand tons, which is 55% more than in the same period last year. This is the highest figure since 2022. India remains the main importer of Ukrainian sunflower oil.
In addition, the sharp rise in palm oil prices contributed to the increase in India's purchases of sunflower oil, prices for which with delivery to local ports rose from $1200/t in June to $1220/t in July and $1230-1240/t in August. But their growth was limited by low prices for soybean oil, which led to an increase in its supply.
