Information company ProAgro prepared a comprehensive “Ukraine: Sunseed and Products Market”. Sunflower seeds crushing and by-products production are among the main issues considered in this research.
According to the results of MY 2007/08 sunflower crush volumes in Ukraine totaled 4.1 million tons that is 17% lower compared to the earlier season. It was a consequence of sunflower production decrease by 22% to 4.2 million tons compared to MY 2006/07.
Crushing facilities are usually located in the regions where sunflower is grown which helps to optimize costs of feedstock transportation. Nevertheless, food companies are often focused on consumers, and not on the feedstock. That is why uneven feedstock distribution on the country territory results in existence of producing regions and consuming regions.
Ukraine produced 1.77 million tons of crude sunflower oil in MY 2007/08 that is 17% lower than in the previous season. Several factors influenced the production decrease. One of them is reduction of feedstock supply for crushing, which is explained by the decrease of sunflower production.
One should also mention the seasonal character of production. Meal production also has seasonal features.
The main players in the sunflower crush market are five companies; their share in total sunflower crush in Ukraine is about 40%.
According to the results of October-December of the current season, the LLC Cargill Integrated Plant returned to the first position in terms of sunflower products production.
Generally, as of MY 2007/08 Ukrainian companies are capable of crushing 7 million tons of oilseeds annually (according to some sources, 7.5 million tons).
It should also be mentioned that some Ukrainian enterprises use technologies that allow crushing several types of oilseed feedstock: sunflower, soybeans, and rapeseed.
Products of sunflower crushing can be divided in three types. After the initial crush, oil and meal are received. Mayonnaise, margarine, soap, confectionary fat, oil varnishes, etc. are produces after deeper processing. The third type is presented by sunflower flour and protein concentrates.
In MY 2007/08, Ukrainian companies produced 289, 600 tons of margarine and similar products, which is 4% less than in the previous period.
Three main enterprises cover half of the margarine products market. They are Zaporizhia oil-and-fat plant, Odesa oil-and-fat plant and Lviv integrated fat plant.
Oil with high olein content gradually appears in crushers’ range of products worldwide. It has several advantages; for example, it has high content of vitamin Е – up to 45 mg per 100 g ready product – and others.
In Ukraine, there is low demand for such oil because of its high price compared to other oils, although its production has been launched.
In addition to the issues related to sunflower crushing and its by-products production in general, the new research prepared by our company – “Ukraine: Sunseed and Products Market” – covers all topics related to sunflower as a key feedstock for oil and fat industry of Ukraine.
