As of October 18, sunflower purchase prices on the Ukrainian market were in the range of UAH 14,500-15,500/t. By the end of the week, when the sunflower harvest is expected to be completed, prices might have increased by UAH 300/t.

This was announced on October 18 by the analytical center "PUSK", created within the framework of the UAC, during a weekly briefing for farmers.

Currently, the yield of sunflower is acceptable in the central regions, in the south the crops "burnt", in some regions they suffered from excessive moisture.

"In a week, we can collect another 2 million tons of sunflowers throughout Ukraine. But if it rains, then there is a risk that part of the crop will remain in the field.  Crop loss may amount to 30-40%, which will make it unprofitable to harvest sunflowers in certain territories," said analyst Oleksii Tartakovskyi.

According to the pessimistic scenario, Ukraine will collect a gross harvest of sunflower at the level of 8.5 million tons, according to the optimistic scenario - 9-10 million tons.

Some processors have already started raising the purchase prices for sunflower to UAH 16,000/t.

"In a week, sunflower prices may increase by 300 hryvnias/ton indicatively, because the harvest will be completed this week. When threshing ends, the sunflowers’ demand may drop sharply. A lot of farmers plan to sell sunflowers in December, when prices traditionally increase. Therefore, a low offer of sunflowers on the domestic market can be predicted in November. Estimated prices for the next 7-10 days are UAH 14,500-15,500/t, Oleksiy Tartakovskyi believes.

According to him, the possible closure of sea ports will have the least on sunflower exports, as this crop is mostly exported by road and through small ports.