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Ukrainian dry breakdown, Russian quotas and consumer rush have propelled oils, from sunflower to rapeseed, to staggering price levels, in a very volatile world market where cereals are holding up very high.
Ukraine, which provided 50% of the world trade in sunflower oil, can no longer export because of the war: the ports are blocked and according to kyiv, road and rail allow flow to the west less than half a million tons of goods per month, mainly cereals, ten times less than before the conflict.
Russia, which exports 28% of the world’s sunflower oil, has just introduced a quota for foreign sales of this yellow gold, after increasing export taxes by 20% in early April.
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The threat of a shortage and high oil prices have boosted all oilseeds (rapeseed, sunflower, soy, palm), which are used to produce oils, animal feed and are also used as agrofuels.
As a result, soybean oil has gained 16.5% since the beginning of April on the American market, canola (Canadian GMO rapeseed) came close to its absolute record on Tuesday and rapeseed has been prancing above 1,000 euros per tonne since Friday. a delivery in May on the European market, a record.
Food prices hit record highs
On the shelves of supermarkets, from Paris to Barcelona, sunflower oil is quickly running out, with consumers rushing for the precious bottles, the price of which is now approaching that of olive oil. Some brands have imposed quotas – five liters per customer per day at Mercadona or Corte Inglés in Madrid.
Most of our suppliers limit us in the quantity of oil that we can order. 25 or 50 liters every 48 or 72 hours. I juggle with three or four different suppliers to get enough oil.
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In March, food prices reached their “ highest levels ever recorded », driven by vegetable oils whose FAO index “jumped 23.2%”according to the April report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The war took place in an already very tense context for oils, after a difficult 2021 and when a poor soybean harvest is expected in South America. All eyes are now on the next campaign, with the start of sunflower sowing in Europe.
In France, the European Union’s leading oilseed producer, farmers are preparing to sow more rapeseed this year: areas are expected to increase by 18.4% compared to 2021, to 1.2 million hectares, while those in soft wheat will decline by 3.9%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
(With AFP)