Global sunflowerseed production is expected to total 58.5M tonnes in 2024/25, according to forecasts by the International Grains Council (IGC) reported by Germany’s Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP).
The increase in production was due to anticipated higher yields despite an approximate 2% reduction in planted area, the 22 March report said.
According to the IGC, the expected decline in area is due to good global sunflowerseed supply and low prices.
Sunflowerseed production in the EU-27 was expected to total 10.5M tonnes, a slight increase on the 10.2M tonnes produced in the 2023/24 marketing year.
According to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the IGC forecasts larger harvests, particularly for Romania and Bulgaria.
Production was also projected to increase in Brazil and Argentina.
For Russia, the world’s largest supplier of sunflowerseed, the IGC had forecast a production volume of 17.4M tonnes, which would be 200,000 tonnes lower than the current season, the report said.
The IGC forecast an output of 16.2M tonnes for Ukraine, a drop of around 300,000 tonnes, while no significant changes in production were expected in China.
When making its latest estimates, the IGC said that the crop forecast was quite vague at this point as planting campaigns had not started in leading sunflowerseed producing countries.
