Total exports of sunflower oil of all categories amounted to only 19.2 thousand tons, which is 90% less than in the previous season, when the country exported more than 184 thousand tons of the product. Two years ago, supplies were even higher – 211.2 thousand tons.
This is despite the fact that the average export price in the 2024-2025 season slightly increased by 55% compared to the price level of the previous season, reaching 22.8 lei/kg. Nevertheless, it still remains below the maximum level recorded two years ago, when the average price amounted to 30.0 lei/kg. However, the increase in the average price last season could not compensate for the sharp decline in export volumes, and the negative impact on the total export revenue was significant,” summarizes Iurie Rija, an expert in agro-marketing.
The total volume of Moldovan sunflower oil exports in financial terms in the 2024-25 season decreased by 84% to 437.7 million lei. In the previous season, it amounted to 2.71 billion lei. And the maximum revenue from sunflower oil exports was recorded in the 2021-22 season. – 5.1 billion lei.
This year, unfortunately, the situation on the Moldovan sunflower oil market has been constantly deteriorating in terms of export/import balance. In the second quarter of 2025, the physical import of this commodity exceeded the export volume by 3.36 times. In particular, 5.23 thousand tons were imported, while only 1.55 thousand tons of oil were exported.
That is, since the second quarter of this year, Moldova has not only lost the status of net exporter, but has become very dependent on imports of this product of prime necessity, daily consumption. The main supplier of sunflower oil to the Moldovan market is Ukraine, a country at war. This factor is added with other numerous risks – potentially low harvest in the Black Sea region in 2025, difficulties with logistics, tariff and sanctions pressure that distorts the functioning of the market mechanism. For consumers, all this is fraught with a constant threat of price increases.
