China has almost tripled its imports of Ukrainian high-oleic sunflower oil in the current season, while the EU has reduced by 13%. According to operational data, exports of high oleic sunflower oil from Ukraine in the first 4 months of the 2023/24 season amounted to about 120 thousand tonnes. This is 23% higher than in the same period last season, but still lower than the average exports in the same period in the pre-war years.
Ukraine overtakes Spain
The increase was mainly due to China, which shipped just over 21 thousand tonnes in the September-December period of the current season, almost three times more than in the same period of the previous MY. In addition, according to the results of MY 2022/23, China became the leading importer of Ukrainian high-oleic sunflower oil, replacing Spain, and is still in first place this season.
The second and third places in the ranking of importers are occupied by Spain and Romania, where 20 thousand tonnes were shipped. In the direction of Spain, the increase was 22%, in the direction of Romania the export of these products increased 2.6 times. In general, however, it is worth noting that for 4 months of the 2023/24 season, exports of high oleic oil to the European Union fell by 13%.