“Russia is constantly trying to step on our heels and expanding production,” he said at the Black Sea Grain.Kyiv conference.
“They were partially able to capitalize on the situation in 2022, and managed to gain a foothold in the Indian market, where we were the number one exporter," he added.
"A similar picture is emerging in the Turkish and Italian markets, where our competitors are significantly strengthening their presence.”
According to the analyst, the Ukrainian sunflower industry remains critically dependent on exports, seeing as domestic consumption does not exceed 300,000 tons. However, despite having an export capacity of 6 million tons of oil per year, recent shipments have fallen short of 5 million tons, due to logistics and crop yields.
As of UkrAgroConsult data, Ukraine remains the leading international exporter of sunflower oil (33%), followed by Russia (30%), Argentina (14%), Turkiye (5%), and Kazakhstan (5%).
“Ukrainian oil remains in the premium segment. We expect supply in the Black Sea region to increase, which may push prices down somewhat,” Kharchenko said.
“However, due to the instability in the Middle East and an increase in Soybean oil prices, our product remains competitive and in a secure position.”
He also noted that Ukraine is experiencing rapid growth in rapeseed oil exports, with shipments doubling since last year. The key buyers of this product are EU countries (Poland, Spain, Italy) and Thailand.
Per reports from July to March of the 2025/2026 marketing years, sunflower oil exports from Ukraine decreased by 10.1% to 3.16 million tons compared to the same period in the last season.
The biggest importers of Ukrainian sunflower oil during that period were India (484.4 thousand tons), Spain (445.7 thousand tons), and the Netherlands (395.5 thousand tons).