According to Rosstat, purchase prices for sunflower in May decreased by 10% compared to April and reached 27.22 thousand rubles per ton. At the same time, rapeseed rose in price by 5% to 33.4 thousand rubles/t, soybeans - by 3% to 37.6 thousand rubles/t. According to the OilWorld portal, the average demand price for sunflower as of June 2 was 22.2 thousand rubles per ton, having decreased by 1.9 rubles over the week and by 2.6 thousand rubles over three months.
Kirill Lozovoy, an analyst at the OleoScope information and analytical agency, says that sunflower prices in the Russian regions continued to decline in May as global oil prices continue to move downward, while the domestic market mirrors this trend. According to OleoScope, the cost of a ton of sunflower seeds in the Central Federal District in May fell to 24.4 thousand rubles. VAT included. In the South of Russia, there is also a fall in prices for crops - up to 25.1 thousand rubles / t. In the Volga Federal District, the decline was less noticeable, but prices in this macro-region are already low - 22.6 thousand rubles per ton in May.
“Relatively weak demand for finished products from importers leads to a drop in prices, supply obviously exceeds demand. On an FOB basis, the value failure in May has already reached the level of $750/t,” Lozovoy commented to Agroinvestor. According to him, the duty on oil, which in May was at the level of 1,122 rubles per ton, also had an impact on the pricing of sunflower seeds in the domestic market. Since June 1, the rate for the export of the product has become zero, so we can expect a slight increase in prices in the oil and fat complex.
In the spring, when the price of sunflower reached its lowest level since November 2022, SovEcon analysts noted that the main factor in the decline in demand from oil refineries was the fall in export prices for oil. At the same time, sunflower supply continued to grow against the backdrop of seasonal warming and deterioration of storage conditions on farms. “In the short term, we expect a further decline in prices for sunflower seeds and sunflower oil,” SovEcon analysts predicted.