Russia introduces quotas for sunoil, sunmeal; bans sunflower, rapeseed exports

The Russian government is introducing quotas for the export of sunflower oil and meal as well as a temporary ban on the export of sunflower and rapeseed seeds, local media reports said on Thursday.

The quotas are being introduced to protect the domestic market and meet the needs of processing enterprises, the reports said.

The Russian government has announced a quota of 1.5 million mt for sunflower oil and 700,000 mt for sunflower meal from April 15 to August 31, 2022.

In addition, the Russian government will impose a temporary ban on the export of sunflower and rapeseed seeds from April 1 to August 31, 2022.

The government's intervention in the oil and fat industry came after Russia's military incursion into Ukraine led to the blockage of port infrastructure in Ukraine, the largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil in the world, which led to a shortage of sunflower oil supply and subsequent price rise.

Export of sunflower oil within the quota can only be carried out by direct producers of sunflower oil, according to sources based in Russia.

The quota for sunflower oil remains unclear, and when analysed by market participants, some consider the volume of the quota sufficient while others say that Russian producers could export up to 2 million tons by the end of the 2021/22 season.

From September 1, 2021, exports of sunflower oil from Russia are taxed at 70% of the difference between the floating base price based on data from the Reuters news feed, while the floor price is set at $1,000 per ton.

The export duty will be valid until August 31, 2022.

However, now that Reuters has exited the Russian market, the floating reference price will be based on data from IGC and Argentine ports.

From April 1, 2022, export duty will increase by $52.9/mt or by 20.3% compared with the March indicator and will total $313/mt, according to a March 14 publication from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

According to March USDA estimates, the export of sunflower oil from Russia was estimated at 3.65 million mt, sunflower meal at 1.8 million mt.