The leaders in processing within Ukraine's agricultural sector are the oil-and-fat and sugar industries.
This was stated by Vladimir Rossoha, Chief Researcher of the Department of Agricultural Production Economics at the National Scientific Center Institute of Agrarian Economics, Doctor of Economics, in an interview with Kommersant Ukrainian.
“Ukraine is one of the world leaders in sunflower oil production. However, our processing plants operate at up to 65% capacity,” he noted.
He added that the largest sunflower oil producer in Ukraine, with a market share of 27–28%, is Kernel, which produces up to 1.6 million tons of oil per year. The company also exports about 8% of the global volume of sunflower oil.
“Among the top 3 Ukrainian sunflower processors with nearly a 10% market share is Creative Group, which has 9 plants and exports almost 70% of its products, as well as Astarta/Globyno and Krasnogorsky Oil Plant,” Vladimir Rossoha specified.
He emphasized that in the 2023/24 season, Ukraine produced 6.6 million tons of sunflower oil, of which 6.2 million tons were exported.
According to the Ministry of Economy, sunflower oil has become the leader in domestic processed goods exports. Its main importers are:
- Romania ($951 million)
- Turkey ($932 million)
- China ($532 million)
- India ($337 million)
- Spain ($312 million).
