This is evidenced by data for July-May 2025/2026 marketing year from the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, writes Latifundist.
During this period, Ukraine exported 578.5 thousand tons of sunflower oil to Spain, which is 14.5% of total exports. India ranked second with 571.5 thousand tons and a share of 14.3%.
As of the end of March, the situation was different. As of July 2026 – March 2026, India remained the largest buyer of Ukrainian sunflower oil – with a purchase volume of 484.4 thousand tons and a share of 15.3%. Spain held the second position with a volume of 445.7 thousand tons and a share of 14.1%.
Thus, during April-May Spain imported additional 132.8 thousand tons of Ukrainian sunflower oil, while India – 87.1 thousand tons. This allowed Spanish buyers to take the first place among export destinations.
The third largest market for Ukrainian sunflower oil remains the Netherlands, which imported 460.2 thousand tons of products in July-May. Italy (407.9 thousand tons) and France (233 thousand tons) are also in the top five.
In general, the countries of the European Union for eleven months of the season provided 51% of Ukrainian sunflower oil exports – 2.04 million tons. The share of Asian direction was 37.6% (1.5 million tons), African – 7.8% (312 thousand tons).
The growing share of sunflower oil of Ukrainian origin in the European market at the end of the marketing season can be perceived as a clear strengthening of Ukraine’s market position in this market segment of the European Union. Such an arrangement narrows the space on the EU vegetable oil market for other potential suppliers of small scale, such as Moldova.
