Gross harvest of sunflower in Ukraine in the 2017/18 season will be significantly less than in MY 2016/17. As reported by the USDA in the updated review (Ukraine: Oilseeds and Products Annual), the production volume of the oilseeds in the new season is forecasted at the level of 11.2 MMT, which will be lower than the record result of the current marketing year by 20%.

This forecast is based on the assumption that the crop area under cultivation in the next season will roughly correspond to the value of MY 2015/16, that is, 5.1-5.2 million ha. It should be noted that the acreage under sunflower in Ukraine remained quite stable over the past five years and fluctuated within 5.0-5.3 million ha range. However, 6.3 million ha were sown under the harvest of 2016, which was the key factor that ensured a record harvest, reaching, according to various estimates, 14.0-14.1 MMT. 

According to USDA, such vast areas were planted with sunflower, largely because many Ukrainian farmers preferred to cut winter wheat crops sowings in autumn 2015, both to maintain domestic prices and because of unfavorable weather conditions. Thus, it is argued that the crop area has already reached its optimal level determined by the crop rotation processes and is likely to remain stable if the global or domestic demand for the sunflower and its processed products won’t be sharply fluctuating.

Source: ProAgro