China has become a new driver for the sunflower meal market in the world

As of the beginning of July, RUSSIA exported over 1.36 million tons of sunflower meal in the 18/19 MY season, which has already surpassed the results of the last 4 seasons.

 

 

 

In total, the current season exports may reach 1.4-1.5 million tons. To a large extent, this was the result of CHINA's entry into the world market of meal, which began to buy sunflower meal from Ukraine since last season. The "colossal appetites" of China in protein components for the livestock industry have led to an explosive growth in supplies of meal from Ukraine, which in the current season reach 837 thousand tons (from September to June) and occupy more than 20% of total exports. In fact, China has become the largest importer of sunflower meal in the world. Only the European Union, a macro-region, buys more sunflower meal.

 

This has led to a reduction in sales of Ukrainian meal in other directions - to the European Union (-15%) and Belarus (-29%). These shifts in the global market have led to an increase in demand for Russian meal, the EXPORT of which to the EU has increased by 60% since the beginning of the season, replacing Ukrainian products. There has also been an increase in supplies to Belarus, but on a smaller scale (+21%).

 

According to ICAR, given the recent progress in trade relations between Russia and China (an agreement was signed on 6 June 2019 to expand the list and volume of grain and oilseed crops and products supplied to China), China may become one of the leading buyers for Russia in terms of sunflower meal supplies. For processors, this is undoubtedly a positive factor, which not only ensures stable demand, but also supports prices. In light of the global challenges of increasing the Russian export potential by almost 3 times before 2024, China's entry into the global sunflower meal market is very timely.