The increasing needs of the Bulgarian processing industry and the decrease in sunflower imports will encourage farmers to restore the sunflower acreage in 2024, according to Svitlana Kupreeva, the oilseed market analyst at UkrAgroConsult.
Thus, in 2023, the sunflower planted area was 6% lower than the previous year. The limiting factor for the area expansion was the price drop under the pressure of large sunflower stocks due to high imports from Ukraine. At the same time, the yield was 18% lower and the gross harvest was 23% lower.
The January balance sheet is expected to show an increase in sunflower imports (+100 thsd tonnes) compared to the previous forecast due to the lifting of restrictions on imports from Ukraine and the introduction of the export licensing mechanism from Ukraine, Kupreeva added.
At the same time, she predicts that domestic sunflower processing will reach the level of the previous season, and the export of sunflower oil will increase by 20 thsd tonnes.
In conclusion, taking into account the increase in the needs of the processing industry and the decrease in sunflower imports, in 2024, farmers will try to restore sunflower acreage.