Thus, during this period, the country exported just over 18 thousand tons of oil, compared to almost 184 thousand tons in the previous season. In the 2024/25 season, sunflower oil exports brought only 411 million lei to the economic entities of the Republic of Moldova, compared to 4.4 billion lei in the previous season. This is a historical anti-record and an indicator that the country’s processing capacities were used at the minimum level.
At the same time, as Logos Press wrote earlier, during the same period, the dynamics of sunflower exports increased sharply, reaching a record high (more than 532 thousand tons).
There are many reasons for this situation, but one of the most important is the imbalance between high prices for raw materials and low prices for finished products. Against this background, an important negative role was played by the state licensing of sunflower import (in particular, from Ukraine, where during a certain period of the season it was offered at a very competitive price). Given the strict restriction on imports of raw materials, local farmers offered them to local processors at a higher price. A certain role in the deterioration of relations between farmers and industrialists was also played by the fact that the latter paid for the shipped sunflower with significant delays.
This year started without any signs that by the end of the year sunflower processing in the Republic of Moldova will return to the previous high level and this sector of the national economy will overcome the deadlock. The highest export volume of sunflower oil in 2025 was recorded in March – about 6 thousand tons. In total, from the beginning of this year to May 7, about 10.5 thousand tons of goods were sent from the Republic of Moldova to foreign markets. This is a very modest figure compared to the data for the same period of previous years, Agrocereale said.
