The Government has adopted a further decision to support Ukrainian farmers operating amid russian attacks in the Black Sea region. This was announced by Prime Minister of Ukraine Sergii Koretskyi.
“Enemy attacks on civilian vessels and port infrastructure have forced our exporters to reroute shipments. This has complicated logistics and increased delivery times,” the Prime Minister said.
Enemy strikes are forcing Ukrainian exporters to reroute shipments, complicating logistics and increasing delivery times.
The Government is therefore changing the rules governing payment deadlines under export contracts for certain agricultural products: wheat, maize, soya beans, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil and oilcake.
The Ministry of Economy and Environment will be able to extend the prescribed deadlines by up to 180 days at an exporter’s request.
“This will give producers and exporters more time to fulfil their contracts amid logistical disruptions, help maintain exports and foreign currency inflows into the country, and secure resources for the next sowing season,” Sergii Koretskyi said.
CZECH REPUBLIC: State-owned railway operator České Dráhy has begun testing 100% hydrotreated vegetable oil in three Pesa RegioFox diesel multiple-units. The trials are being conducted in normal passenger service on the Rakovník – Beroun and Beroun – Rudná u Prahy – Praha routes in cooperation with the Středočeský region.
India has sharply increased its vegetable oil imports ahead of the festive season. In August, imports of edible vegetable oils rose 4% from July to an 11-month high of 1.54 million tonnes, with soybean oil up 21% to a record 601,000 tonnes and palm oil up 7% to a 6-month high of 780,000 tonnes. This does not include duty-free imports of 100,000 tonnes of oil from Nepal (including 90,000 tonnes of soybean oil).
At the same time, sunflower oil supplies in August decreased by 38% compared to July to a 6-month low of 157 thousand tons due to the blockade of exports from the Black Sea region.
As a reminder, India celebrates a number of holidays from August to November, so processors are preparing for the season of increased demand and increasing purchases of oils, especially soybean oil from South America, as its prices are lower than palm oil. Therefore, market participants expect that in September the demand for soybean and palm oil will remain high, which will support world quotes.
India, the world's largest importer of vegetable oils, buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, and soybean and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation.
Amid a record soybean harvest, soybean oil prices in Brazil have fallen to $1,150-1,210/t FOB, while in Argentina soybean oil prices are even $15-30/t lower. At the same time, palm oil prices in Malaysia have risen to $1,200-1,230/t FOB, which has contributed to increased soybean oil supplies.
Currently, palm oil prices on a CFR India basis are $1,240-1,270/tonne, which is $30/tonne higher than soybean oil, and sunflower oil prices have risen to $1,460-1,470/tonne, although palm oil is usually traded at a discount of $100-150/tonne to soybean oil and $250-300/tonne to sunflower oil. However, due to the limited supplies from the Black Sea region, palm oil is now receiving additional premiums.
The global edible oil balance could tighten significantly in 2026/27. According to Oil World, combined production of the eight major edible oils is forecast to increase by only 1.7% to 237.2 mln tons, while consumption is expected to reach 237.6 mln tons. Supply growth will be constrained primarily by an anticipated decline in palm oil production, which higher output of other oils is unlikely to fully offset.
The market could become particularly tight in the first quarter of the new season. Expectations had centered on a larger sunflower crop and a recovery in sunflower oil supplies from the Black Sea region. However, production and export disruptions in Ukraine and Russia could keep shipments significantly below normal levels.
Importers will have to increasingly substitute sunflower oil with other edible oils, but the potential for such substitution is limited. Large volumes of soybean and rapeseed feedstock in North America and Europe are already being absorbed by the biofuel industry. At the same time, an expected decline in palm oil production and exports will further restrict alternative supplies.
Against this backdrop, growth in global edible oil consumption is forecast to slow to 2.3%, from 3.6% in the previous season. Oil World expects consumption to reach 237.6 mln tons, compared with 232.23 mln tons in 2025/26. Higher prices are expected to curb demand growth, although demand from the biofuel sector in Europe and North America will remain strong.
As a result, part of global demand will have to be covered by existing inventories. Global edible oil stocks are forecast to decline by 13.5% to 31.97 mln tons in 2026/27. Such a sharp drawdown in inventories would leave the market more vulnerable to supply disruptions and could provide additional support to global prices.
Kernel has signed its first deal, according to the company, to sell sunflower oil with a reduced carbon footprint and verified emissions reductions. The buyer paid an additional premium on top of the market price for the oil based on its climate attributes.
An international multinational corporation whose name Kernel has not disclosed is the buyer. The company is pursuing a strategy to achieve net-zero emissions.
The emissions reductions are achieved directly within the oil’s production and supply chain, rather than through the purchase of carbon offset certificates.
Kernel calculates the carbon footprint of crops at the individual field level, taking into account soil conditions, weather, crop rotation and farming practices. This allows the company to select sunflower with the lowest carbon footprint to create separate supply chains.
The origin of the product is tracked from the field through the elevator to the crushing plant. This enables Kernel to determine which fields supplied the raw material and the amount of emissions reductions associated with it.
Emissions are also reduced during processing through the use of electricity from renewable sources.
The premium for low-carbon products depends on the verified amount of emissions reduced and the market value of carbon. According to Kernel, it may reach $100 or...
An agreement has been reached between Ukraine and Romania to increase the capacity of the Sulina Canal and reduce vessel waiting times, UkrAgroConsult reported.
The Sulina Canal is strategically important for the operation of Ukraine’s Danube ports, particularly amid growing pressure on alternative export routes, according to the 28 August report.
Representatives of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA), Ukraine’s Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Romania’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the Lower Danube River Administration (AFDJ) and the European Commission (EC) discussed the measures.
Ukraine, Romania and the EC agreed to work jointly to increase the number of vessels able to pass through the canal and improve the stability of the Danube transport corridor.
One of the key steps would be the setting up of a joint USPA-AFDJ coordination centre to ensure continuous operational co-operation and co-ordinate vessel traffic, UkrAgroConsult said.
The parties also agreed to work on aligning plans for the development of the Sulina Canal with the needs of Ukraine’s Danube port cluster.
Romania plans to increase the number of customs and border inspection teams, allowing more vessels to be cleared simultaneously, according to the report.
In addition, the parties would promote the PRIMUS project, which was aimed at enabling night-time vessel navigation through the Sulina Canal.
Other plans included joint training sessions for Ukrainian and Romanian shipping agents and customs brokers on clearance procedures under Schengen rules.
The causes of vessel delays and the need for timely and accurate documentation for transit passage were also discussed, the report said.
DALIAN/BRUSSELS. China is reckoning with a production decline for sunflower seeds this year. Prices will change course. In Ukraine, the harvest has just started. Eurostat has revised the EU production estimate.
Dent in production in China
In China, the area under sunflower cultivation has plummeted by 26%, from 8.8 million mu (586,667 ha) to approximately 6.5 million mu (433,333 ha), reversing the previous supply-exceeding-demand pattern. Expectation is that the pre-market price benchmark will rise by around 10-15% as compared with 2025.
Wide price gaps
High temperatures during the pollination period have also led to a decline in seed-setting rates and an increase in empty pods, exacerbating the polarisation between high-quality...
Soyabean imports to the European Union (EU) could fall substantially if maximum residue limits were applied to 18 hazardous pesticides, a new report says.
Published on 11 August by the European Commission (EC)’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the study estimated the potential impact on EU trade, farm production and consumer prices if the EU lowered maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the most hazardous banned pesticides to the limit of quantification (LOQ) on imported food and feed products.
The study focused on substances banned in the EU on hazardous grounds, namely those classified as mutagenic or carcinogenic, toxic for reproduction, endocrine disruptors, persistent organic pollutants, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances, and very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances.
A total of 18 non-EU-approved active substances were identified, covering 235 commodities and 86 exporting countries.
Taking three scenarios that varied by assumed exporter adaptation, the JRC found that EU agricultural imports could decline by as much as 41% under a “no adaptation” scenario.
The “no adaptation” scenario assumed producers continued current practices and exports faced a full trade shock.
In the intermediate scenario (‘Switch – EFSA+ – 20%’), it was assumed that producers adjusted some practices, leading to a 20% increase in exports.
The lower bound scenario (‘Switch – EFSA – 5%’), assumed a smaller share of producers adapted their products, leading to a 5% increase in exports.
Across all scenarios, the result from lowering the MRLs to the LOQ was similar – imports declined, EU production increased and consumer prices rose.
However, the effect was strongly dependent on exporters’ adaptation assumptions, ranging from negligible to substantial impacts.
Looking specifically at soyabeans, the EU is widely dependant on imports, mainly for use in animal feed production, and Brazil accounts for almost 50% of...