Türkiye holds an 18.3 percent share in the global refined sunflower oil trade, according to Celal Kadooğlu, chair of the Southeastern Anatolia Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters’ Association.
Data from the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) showed that Türkiye exported sunflower oil worth $317 million in the first quarter of the year.
Between January and March 2026, Türkiye exported 195,995 tons of sunflower oil to 93 countries and free zones.
Exports, which amounted to $270 million for 183,125 tons in the same period last year, increased by 17.2 percent in value and 7 percent in volume in the first quarter of this year.
The Southeastern Anatolia Region, which accounts for 61.7 percent of Türkiye’s sunflower oil exports, recorded exports worth $196 million.
Djibouti emerged as the primary destination for Turkish sunflower oil exports during this period, totaling $126 million, while Sudan and Syria followed at $34 million and $20.4 million, respectively.
“Global constraints in raw material supply and the war conditions surrounding our region will be decisive factors for performance in the remainder of the year,” Kadooğlu said.
“Although Russia’s extension of export taxes until the end of 2026 puts pressure on the supply chain, we know how to overcome this challenge through our strong inventory management, timely interventions by the Turkish Grain Board and the flexibility of our high-tech facilities,” he added.
“I believe this dynamism will enable us to reach our target of a 25 percent market share within the next 10 years,” Kadooğlu said.
A Russian strike on the port city of Chornomorsk caused a large-scale spill of sunflower oil into the Black Sea, Ukrainian environmental authorities said on Monday, April 27.
According to the State Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western District, the attack damaged infrastructure at the Chornomorsk seaport, destroying a storage tank containing about 6,000 tons of sunflower oil.
The spill occurred following a fire triggered by the Russian strike on Saturday.
Inspectors found that oil had leaked into the port’s water area, forming a slick measuring approximately 400 by 200 meters on the surface.
Emergency crews deployed containment booms to prevent the spread of the oil, while port services blocked stormwater drainage systems to stop further leakage into the sea.
No soil contamination was recorded, as the affected area is covered with concrete, the inspection said.
Environmental specialists have taken seawater samples for laboratory testing to determine the extent of the ecological threat and calculate damages.
Authorities said a full assessment of environmental harm caused by the attack would be completed once all necessary data is collected.
The Black Sea has repeatedly faced environmental risks since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with strikes on port infrastructure raising concerns over long-term ecological damage.
In March, China’s imports of seven types of vegetable oils and five types of meals remained unusually high, reaching 839,000 tonnes and 1 million tonnes, respectively, due to reduced rapeseed and canola processing and the accumulation of reserve stocks, primarily from imported palm oil, according to analysts at Oil World (Germany).
Specifically, China imported the most palm oil in March – 510,000 tonnes (308,000 tonnes in March 2025), rapeseed oil – 187,000 tonnes (344,000 tonnes), and sunflower oil – 49,000 tonnes (40,000 tonnes).
Sunflower meal supplies increased almost fourfold compared to March 2025, reaching 352,000 tonnes (90,000 tonnes), of which 233,000 tonnes came from Ukraine, 82,000 tonnes from Russia, and 37,000 tonnes from Kazakhstan. Rapeseed meal imports totaled 294,000 (252,000) tonnes, including 104,000 tonnes from Russia, 39,000 tonnes from Ukraine, 74,000 tonnes from India, 40,000 tonnes from the UAE, and 30,000 tonnes from Canada.
In total, China has imported 5.19 million tonnes of vegetable oils since the start of the season (+0.9 million tonnes compared to October-March 2024/25). In particular, palm oil imports increased to a three-year high, reaching 2.97 (2.06) million tonnes. Rapeseed oil imports also totaled 1.16 (1.3) million tonnes.
Total oilseed meal imports into the country increased by 1.5 million tons annually from October to March 2025/26, reaching 4.71 million tons, of which sunflower meal accounted for 1.49 million tons (0.58 million tons) and rapeseed meal for 1.42 million tons (1.49 million tons).
According to OleoScope, China purchased 245,000 tons of sunflower meal in the first quarter of the year, becoming the largest buyer for the period. Turkey ranked second with 28,000 tons.
The European Union (EU) is expecting a sunflowerseed harvest of 9.6M tonnes in 2026, according to the EU Commission (EC)’s latest forecast reported by Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Plants and Protein (UFOP).
Based on an expansion of the EU sunflower planted area by approximately 5%, this volume would be a year-on-year increase of 1.2M tonnes year and would be the largest harvest in three years, the 17 April report said.
Sunflowerseed output was expected to increase significantly in Romania, France and Bulgaria.
With a forecast harvest of 2.1M tonnes – a rise of 18% – from a slight expansion in production area to 1.2M ha, Romania was expected to strengthen its position as the largest EU producer.
Climbing to second place among the EU’s largest producers, France was expected to harvest 1.9M tonnes, a rise of around 33% year-on-year.
According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, other EU member states were also likely to see significant harvest increases including Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain and Greece.
For Germany, the EC projected an increase in output of approximately 32,000 tonnes to 175,000 tonnes, which would be a new record. The crop area was estimated at 77,000ha, up from 62,000ha the previous year.
“Compared with the major producers of sunflowerseed, Germany continues to play a relatively minor role in the EU,” UFOP said.
“However, the upward revision of the crop forecast reflects farmers’ growing interest in diversifying crop rotation, especially by including an additional summer crop.”
Ukraine continues to maintain its position as the world’s leading exporter of sunflower oil with an estimated 33% market share, even as Russia rapidly expands its processing capacity and attempts to displace Ukrainian producers from traditional markets.
This was stated by analyst Maksym Kharchenko from the consulting agency UkrAgroConsult during the BLACK SEA GRAIN.KYIV-2026.
According to him, Russia is strengthening its global position by increasing crushing capacity and has already partially taken over Ukraine’s former leading position in India. A similar trend is visible in Turkey and Italy, where Russian market presence continues to grow.
Kharchenko noted that Ukraine’s sunflower processing industry remains highly export-dependent, as domestic consumption does not exceed 300,000 tons. Despite export potential of up to 6 million tons annually, actual shipments in recent years have remained below 5 million tons due to logistics constraints and yield variability. In February 2026, sunflower processing margins stood at around 7%.
According to company data, the top five global exporters of sunflower oil are Ukraine (33%), Russia (30%), Argentina (14%), Turkey (5%), and Kazakhstan (5%).
“Ukrainian oil remains positioned in the premium segment. We expect rising supply in the Black Sea region, which may put some pressure on prices. However, amid instability in the Middle East and rising soybean oil prices, Ukrainian oil is expected to remain competitive,” Kharchenko said.
He also added that competition is intensifying in other segments as well. For the 2026/27 season, Russia increased winter rapeseed acreage by more than 50%, targeting the Chinese market. Although Ukrainian and Russian interests in rapeseed oil currently barely overlap, analysts expect inevitable competition in the future.
Shipments of major vegetable oils and oilseed meals from Russia to Middle Eastern countries (excluding Iran) exceeded 300,000 tons in March this year (+53% compared to February, +57% year-on-year), marking the highest monthly level in the entire observation history. This was reported by the federal center Agroexport under the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.
As noted, Turkey was the main beneficiary of purchases of this product (82% of the total volume), where significant volumes of Russian soybean and sunflower meals, as well as sunflower oil, were delivered last month.
“In addition to Turkey, demand for Russian oil and meal increased in almost all countries of the region: for example, shipments to Saudi Arabia rose month-on-month by 59%, to Israel by 2%, to Lebanon by 126%, to the UAE by 25%, and to Jordan by 46%. For the first time in a long period, shipments were made to Iraq, which contracted crude sunflower oil,” analysts at Agroexport said.
Experts also added that amid geopolitical turbulence, Middle Eastern countries are partially diversifying their import portfolios, which may allow Russian oil and fat products to expand their presence in the region.
Oilseed production in the European Union (EU) is forecast to increase to 33.3M tonnes in 2026/27 compared to 32M tonnes the previous year, mainly due to high rapeseed and sunflowerseed production, according to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
The total EU oilseed planted area was forecast to recover by almost 4% in 2026/27 from 11.8M ha to 12.27M ha, with the larger planted area and improved sunflower yields forecast to result in increased production in 2026/27, the 10 April European Union - Oilseeds and Products Annual’ said.
Year-on-year sunflowerseed and soyabean production were forecast to rise by 14% and 5.5% respectively.
Overall exports were projected to decrease by over 17%, from 1.75M tonnes to 1.45M tonnes, mainly due to lower rapeseed and sunflower exports.
Oilseed imports were expected to decline year-on-year, from 21.5M tonnes to 21M tonnes, due to higher domestic production in 2026/27.
Oilseed meal production was expected to increase by 1% due to higher overall crushing levels, particularly for sunflower and rapeseed.
Feed use in 2026/27 was forecast to remain largely unchanged, with decreases in the EU livestock and dairy herd and increases in poultry production expected to offset each other, the USDA said.
In the feed sector, the use of rapeseed meal was forecast to remain steady year-on-year, soyabean and palm kernel meal use was expected to decline slightly, and sunflower meal use was expected to increase due to higher domestic production.
“Soyabean meal and palm kernel meal may face pricing disadvantages due to compliance costs associated with implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which was delayed until December 2026,” the USDA said.
“However, several local sources have reported that many companies were better equipped to comply with EUDR requirements than they were in 2025/26.”
A new analysis from Mordor Intelligence revealed that the global sunflower oil market is entering a period of what could be considered significant structural expansion. Projected to grow from USD $32.14 billion in 2025 to USD $44.79 billion by 2031, the sector has been maintaining a steady compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.74%. This growth potentially represents a shift from short-term price volatility toward long-term demand driven by regulatory changes, health trends, and industrial diversification.
“This expansion is driven by structural shifts, including EU palm oil substitution and rising demand for high-oleic grades in the biofuel sectors of the U.S. and Brazil. Despite geopolitical supply chain risks, the market remains supported by recovering Ukrainian exports and a consumer pivot toward premium, health-conscious variants like cold-pressed and high-oleic oils,” the press release noted.
Key Growth Drivers: Health and Regulation
The primary catalyst for the market’s upward trajectory is a global transition toward healthier edible oils. As health authorities continue to emphasize the reduction of trans-fats and saturated fats, sunflower oil — rich in vitamin E and unsaturated fats — has emerged as a preferred alternative.
This shift is being accelerated by stringent international regulations. In the European Union and beyond, mandates limiting the use of partially hydrogenated oils are causing food processors in the bakery, snack, and processed food sectors to reformulate. This regulatory tailwind is creating a permanent structural demand for sunflower oil as a “clean label” ingredient.