War in Ukraine: Sunflower oil rationed in several European countries

In the oil department of this Parisian supermarket, the stock of sunflower oil is exhausted.

April 5, 2022. AFP - THOMAS COEX

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In the United Kingdom, the retail giant Tesco will also ration sales of sunflower oil, this is what it announced on Friday April 22.

Several other British supermarket chains, but also in particular Belgian and French, have already taken the same decision, to try to better manage the stocks of this oil, of which Ukraine is the world's leading exporter.

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The war that has lasted

there has caused vegetable oil prices to soar around the world and raised fears of supply difficulties in the coming months.

Empty vegetable oil shelves, this is what some French and European consumers have observed in their supermarkets in recent weeks.

To prevent customers from stocking up, Lidl stores in France are limiting purchases to three bottles of sunflower oil per person.

The same scenario is repeated in Spain, or even in Belgium.

Before the war, Ukraine provided half of the world's sunflower oil production.

But now the commercial ports are blocked and exports by road and rail have dropped dramatically.

Russia, also one of the biggest exporters of sunflower oil, has imposed quotas and taxes for overseas sales.

Finally, the war risks halving sunflower harvests in Ukraine this year, according to the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture.

In this context of uncertainty, sunflower oil prices increased by around 20 to 25% in France and the United Kingdom.

Increases which also indirectly affect other oils and create tensions, such as in 

palm oil exports on Friday after protests against rising prices.

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