The Rostov region retains its leading position in the production of vegetable oil

For five months of 2022, the growth in vegetable oil production amounted to 119% compared to the same period last year.
The Rostov region retains its leading position in the production of sunflower oil and continues to increase production volumes. This was discussed at a field meeting, which was held by the first deputy governor of the Rostov region Viktor Goncharov in the Morozovsky district.
“According to the results of 2021, the Don region produced about 695 thousand tons of unrefined vegetable oil and ranked second in the country, as well as more than 360 thousand tons of refined vegetable oil, which is the third indicator in RUSSIA,” Viktor Goncharov said. – At the same time, let me remind you that in 2021, about two million tons of oilseeds were harvested in the Rostov region, which created the prerequisites for increasing processing volumes. And, as a result, we see that in the first five months of this year, Don enterprises have produced 19% more vegetable oil than in the same period last year.”
According to the Don Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the fat-and-oil branch of the food and processing industry of the Rostov region is represented by three large, two medium-sized, and a number of small enterprises. The production capacity for processing oilseeds in the region is 2.4 million tons per year, in 2021 1.5 million tons were processed.
The participants of the meeting visited the production units of the Morozov branch of the Aston company, whose capacities allow processing about 400 thousand tons per year. For five months of 2022, the enterprise shipped products for a total amount of 7.22 billion rubles. The growth rate against the same period last year is 116.4%.
“The plant has a developed infrastructure: an elevator complex with a storage capacity of 75,000 tons of sunflower, two modern laboratories, an automated weighing station, a boiler house and a thermal power plant that processes waste from its own production to produce steam and electricity. The fuel for it is a by-product of sunflower processing, which is husk, which, when burned, generates heat and electricity. This allows the plant to be completely autonomous,” said Sergey Gnutov, DIRECTOR of the Morozov branch, during a tour of the enterprise.
In general, the capacity of two Aston oil plants in the Morozovsky and Millerovsky districts allow processing more than 745 thousand tons of oilseeds per year. The company's prospects are related to the launch of new production facilities and technological solutions that will increase the production and sales of food products and food ingredients, increase the energy efficiency of production, reduce environmental impact and conserve natural resources.