The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia is working to maintain a stable price situation on the sunflower oil market.
At the same time, the observed rise in price of the product is not associated with its shortage in the country.
This was announced on Tuesday, October 20, by the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The ministry stressed that the facts of unjustified overstatement of prices for sunflower oil are being checked together with the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the General Prosecutor's Office.
“The ministry does not forecast a deficit of sunflower oil, its production volume is sufficient to supply the domestic market and actively increase exports.
According to the forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2020 the level of self-sufficiency of Russia in vegetable oil will be 176.3%, ”the Ministry of Agriculture said.
As calculated by the specialists of the company "Sovekon", last week the domestic prices for sunflower oil in Russia increased by 6.6%, to 74,175 rubles per ton, and thus set a new record.
At the same time, sunflower rose in price by 4.66% - to 30.875 thousand rubles per ton.
TASS writes about this with reference to the results of the study.
“Such a strong rise in prices is due to the fact that we are closely connected with the global market of vegetable oils, and in the last six months there has been an increase in world prices for all vegetable oils.
In addition, the recent depreciation of the ruble, as well as the relative poor harvest of sunflower in Russia and Ukraine, affected the cost of the product, "Sovekon managing director Andrei Sizov explained in a conversation with RT.
Russia and Ukraine own 80% of the world sunflower oil market.
At the same time, in 2020 the volume of the Russian sunflower harvest will be 12.2 million tons, compared to 15.4 million in 2019.
Marina Strogaya, executive director of the Investment and Agrarian Fund, told RT about this.
According to her, the decrease in the indicator is associated with less favorable weather conditions during the ripening of the crop.
At the same time, the demand for the product remains high.
“Now there is a steady trend towards the consumption of sunflower oil, and other, cheaper oils (rapeseed, soybean, palm) cannot completely replace it,” emphasized Marina Strogaya.
As Andrey Sizov noted, since the beginning of autumn, price fluctuations in the world sunflower market have significantly increased.
According to the expert, in the first half of September, quotations exceeded $ 1000 per ton, by the end of the month they dropped below $ 900, and in October they began to grow steadily again.
Meanwhile, prices should stabilize in the near future, the specialist is sure.
“In fact, we have the same price that has been established on the world market in terms of rubles on the domestic market.
Nevertheless, we still believe that in the coming weeks a new equilibrium will be established in the world market in the range of $ 900-1000 per ton.
Provided that the ruble is stable, it is possible that we are quite close to the price peak.
Moreover, in the future we can see a rollback from these prices, ”the expert explained.
© Vitaly Timkiv / RIA Novosti
According to Andrey Sizov, the current increase in wholesale prices for sunflower oil in Russia will inevitably lead to an increase in the retail cost of goods.
However, the expected rise in price of the product on store shelves will be less significant, Sizov said.
“Compared to last year, wholesale prices in rubles increased by about 60%, while in retail over the same period they increased by only 6%.
In the coming months, the rise in retail prices may continue.
It should be understood that these are not tens of percent per month, but units.
What happens in the wholesale market is shifted to the retail market with a long delay, not fully and for three to four months, ”explained Andrey Sizov.
The actions of the Ministry of Agriculture will partially stabilize prices in the domestic market.
This point of view was expressed in an interview with RT by the managing partner of Agro & Food Communications Ilya Bereznyuk.
So, the department plans to launch the sale of sunflower seeds on the exchange.
The initiative is expected to significantly reduce the risks of new price surges.
“An alternative to resolve the situation with sunflower should be the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture to export sunflower through exchange trade.
This would make the market the most competitive and transparent in terms of pricing, ”concluded Bereznyuk.