By the middle of this month, the average cost of a ton of sunflower seeds in Russia has grown to almost 25.8 thousand rubles ( 346 Euro ), which is the highest value since August this year.
“The quotes strengthened to the maximum level since August against the backdrop of high demand from processors,” says the analysts of the Russian agriculture company Sovekon. At the same time, competition for raw materials in the market is now high. At the beginning of November, there were 2.9 million tons of seeds in the tanks of agricultural producers compared to 3.2 million tons a year earlier.
“Replenishment of sunflower stocks is being delayed amid a record slow harvest. At the beginning of December, the share of harvested areas was 75%,” analysts said, emphasizing that the last time oilseeds were harvested so slowly was five years ago.
“Demand from processors remains strong, but several major players are starting to slow down purchases. The growth in prices for the crop looks limited, as producers may be close to replenishing stocks on the eve of the New Year holidays,” summed up SovEcon.