Edible Oil Producers Fear Whether They Will Be Able to Bring Back Foreign Purchasers

The Government of Serbia has adopted the decision on the lifting of the ban on the export of all kinds of oil, raw and refined, after gaining a full insight into the stock, but also due to the record areas under sunflower plantations. The institutions in charge will continue following the situation in the market and take adequate measures in line with that. The priority will be to meet all the needs of the populace.

Suncica Savovic, the director of the Serbia Grains Association, points out that, due to the previous decisions of the government regarding the export, Serbia had incurred great losses at international purchasers.

– The question now is whether we will be able to bring those purchasers back and to what extent. The decision on the lifting of the ban on the export of all types of oil is certainly good, because it will allow traders, exporters and producers to again freely make deals and have predictability in doing business, as is usually done, because this kind of a market commodity is traded in advance. For example, oil is now sold for October – Savovic points out and adds that the state could have regulated it all earlier and in a much better way, with a better system of quotas.

– We hope that such bans will not happen again. Serbia has never depended on any world producer of oil, we have always produced in excess of the local needs.

According to the estimates of the yields of the new sunflower harvest, which is in progress, from the sown 250,000 hectares, around 750,000 tons of sunflower are expected in the next two weeks.

The world market of raw and refined sunflower oil, due to the Ukrainian crisis, is fully destabilized by the increase in the demand and the prices and the price of raw oil has grown from EUR 1,200 per ton to EUR 2,000 per ton. After nearly six months, the current price of raw oil is lowered and ranges from EUR 1,200 to 1,300 per ton. Also, the price of refined sunflower oil varied in the world market, going up to EUR 3.5 per liter, and currently, in that market, the price is lowered and amounts to around EUR 2.2 per liter. The price of edible oil in the local market, according to the decree of the Government of Serbia, is fixed since November 15, 2021, and limited until August 31 by the new amendment to the decree, amounting to around EUR 1.35 per liter.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Žita Srbije Beograd

Privredna komora Srbije

Government of Serbia

Serbia Grains Association

Suncica Savovic

lifting of ban on export of all types of oil

raw oil

refined oil

edible oil

sunflower

quotas

system of quotas

oil producers

oil storage facilities

sunflower harvest