Bulgarian farmers are preparing a series of protests nationwide following the parliament's decision not to extend temporary restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. APK-Inform reports with reference to local mass media.
Agrarians declare that the protest will be peaceful and indefinite – until the parliament reviews the decision to lift the ban on the import of some types of Ukrainian agricultural products. Farmers believe that their protests can be supported by about a million citizens. After all, Ukraine plans to collect a big sunflower seed crop, and global prices continue to decrease, and this may negatively affect the financial condition of Bulgarian agriproducers.
As for prices, on the sunflower market in Bulgaria, actual deal prices are currently fixed at 390 USD/t DAP Bulgaria. At the same time, bid prices are also maintained at the level of 390 USD/t on average.
Besides, on the market, there are offers of new harvest Ukrainian sunflower seeds with delivery in October.
It should be noted that, according to the updated assessment of APK-Inform Agency, in 2023, the sunflower seed harvest in Ukraine is expected to increase to 13.4 mln tonnes (+7% by 2022). However, the total supply of the oilseed on the domestic market will decrease by 16% due to the reduction of carry-over stocks. As a result, the volume of sunflower seed processing in the country in the 2023/24 MY may decrease to 12.4 mln tonnes (-11%).
Sunflower seed exports in the new season will also decrease, but it will depend primarily on the EU Commission's decision to extend the ban on supplies to 5 EU countries after September 15.
However, the export of Ukrainian oil to Bulgaria will most likely resume in the near future, as evidenced by the increased activity of export-oriented companies in this direction. This may lead to higher competition for raw materials on the domestic market, and may also provide support to prices, which have fallen by more than 4`000-5`000 UAH/t during the 2 weeks of the harvesting campaign.
The prospects of the oilseeds and processed products market in Eastern Europe will be discussed at the XXI international conference "Fat&Oil Industry-2023", which will be held on October 23 in Lviv (Ukraine).
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