One of the weakest sunflower harvests in 10 years, grain producers across the country report. The yields are record low, and the quality of the seeds is very poor, the main reason being the drought and high temperatures.
At the same time, the purchase prices of the production remain low, and the concerns of producers and consumers are that the oil may increase its price.
Simona Semova is a long-time agronomist at an agricultural company in the Veliko Tarnovo village of Momin Sbor. He says this year's sunflower and corn crops are among the weakest in 10 years.
„The yields were terribly low - the sunflower is somewhere around 180 kg per hectare, the corn – 200 kilograms, and I don't remember that since 2013. Then it was also such a year – with very little rainfall, drought, very high temperatures! This is precisely what contributes to the insufficient pollination of the sunflower and the uneven seeding of the corn. The quality of the grain is below any criteria, the purchase prices are also very low, we cannot cover our costs in any case, she said, quoted by bTV.
The low yields of the oilseed crop are immediately reflected in the chain – to traders, to producers and to end users.
Currently, the price of oil in the store network varies from BGN 3.50 to about BGN 5 per liter, depending on the manufacturer. For now, residents of Veliko Tarnovo are not worried that the price of oil will rise.
„It was 8 BGN each, it was 6 BGN each. It is even so fatal, against the background of everything that is increasing in price. Today I rode in a taxi – for 2 kilometers – 6 BGN, the oil is a small problem”, says a customer.
„There is expensive oil, there is also cheap oil, there is also oil on sale...They will buy from Ukraine”, says another woman.
The sunflower harvest ended about two weeks ago, but most grain producers are keeping production in storage due to low purchase prices.
At these price levels, they cannot cover their costs. They are again afraid of cheap imports from Ukraine.
„The purchase price of sunflower is currently BGN 80-85, but there are very high requirements – the grain must be decontaminated, stored well, bargaining begins and I simply don't know how we will realize our production,” says agronomist Simona Semova.
She hopes that there will be no sunflower imports from other countries.
„Basically, we think to wait a bit, to see how the market will settle down. The crash from Ukraine was big! Last year, prices fell by 20-30% and it was scary, good thing we had a slightly higher yield. Otherwise, we were at total zero," she adds.
Due to the hot and dry summer, the countries of the entire Black Sea region report a weaker sunflower harvest, and due to Ukraine's licensing regime, exports will be very difficult.
From the branch of processors of oilseed crops, they will mainly rely on Bulgarian sunflower, but they specify that if the prices on the foreign market rise, the oil will also become more expensive here.