Agency: Prices for sunflower in Russia plummet to 5-year lows

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (PRIME) – Russian sunflower prices have plummeted to their five-year lows due to a record harvest, and may fall even more, agricultural research agency SovEcon said in a research note on Friday.

Average prices for sunflower seeds fell by 8.4% over the past week to 16,575 per tonne, and preliminary data showed them falling 3.5% more to 16,000 rubles this week. “This is the lowest figure since November 2014 when sunflower cost 15,550 per tonne. In the Volga Region, prices fell to as low as 14,000 rubles per tonne in some places,” the research note read.

As of Thursday, Russian farmers threshed 10.4 million tonnes of sunflower from 5.4 million hectares, with the crop yield 17% higher than last year. SovEcon forecasts the sunflower harvest to rise to 13.9 million tonnes this year from 12.8 million tonnes in 2018.

Prices may fall even further as many agricultural companies replenished their sunflower stocks, stopped purchases, and expert lower prices. “On the other hand, the sunflower market may be supported by exports in the short term. We are also pointing to active strengthening of global markets of vegetable oils that has been happening over the past several months,” the agency said.

(64.0144 rubles – U.S. $1)

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