By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine's sunflower seed exports
have rocketed so far this season and the farm ministry said on
Thursday this "unacceptable" trend could destroy one of the
country's most lucrative agricultural sectors.
The agriculture ministry said in a statement a total of 2.75
million tonnes of sunseed were exported in the 2022 calendar
year while the volume did not exceed 100,000 tonnes a year
before the war which Russia calls a "special military
operation".
The ministry said 70% of the exports was directed to the
European Union and 20% to Turkey.
The surge is exports of seeds rather than refined oil
reflects disruptions to refining in Ukraine in the wake of
Russia's invasion last February.
Ukraine used to be the world's leading producer and exporter
of sunflower oil, but the invasion has seen it lose control of
part of its territory while hostilities have disrupted
operations in other regions.
The ministry said that local sunoil producers warned that
high sunseed exports could have "unpredictable negative
consequences" for the sector.
"This could lead to a shutdown of oilseed processing plants,
a catastrophic decline in sunflower oil production... loss of
global markets for high value-added products, job losses and
budget revenue, which is unacceptable," the ministry said.
Ukraine exported 5.3 million tonnes of sunoil in the 2020/21
September-August season while the volume declined to 4.5 million
tonnes in 2021/22 due to the Russian invasion which blocked
Ukrainian Black Sea ports in the second half of the season.
A significant part of Ukrainian sunoil refineries were
forced to stop production in the first months of 2022 due to
blocked ports and impossibility of exports.
The country's oilseeds combined harvest also fell to 17.4
million tonnes from 22.8 million tonnes in 2021.
The ministry gave no 2022/23 sunoil production forecast
while analyst APK-Inform sees it falling to 4.6 million tonnes
from 5.0 million tonnes in 2021/22.
After an almost six-month blockade, three Black Sea ports
were unblocked at the end of July under a deal between Moscow
and Kyiv brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
Sunoil export has reached 2.26 million tonnes so far in the
current season, the ministry said.
"Traditionally, sunflower oil has always been exported by
sea, as the logistics of land transportation for this product
are not well established, so the normal operation of waterways
is extremely important for the export of Ukrainian sunoil," the
ministry noted.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Jason Neely)
pavel.polityuk.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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