In its annual oilseeds report released this week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) forecasts sunflower production in Ukraine at 12.8 million tons, up 16% from the previous year. Rapeseed production in this country will increase by 25% to 4 million tons, while soybean production will decrease by 5% to 4.7 million tons. According to FAS, the total area under oilseed crops in 2026-2027 is projected to be 8.6 million hectares, which is the five-year average. This is reported by World-grain.
According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, by now the country’s winter rape crops amount to 1.3 million hectares, which is 11% more than in the previous year. The rest of the total projected area under oilseeds will be distributed between the two main spring crops: sunflower and soybean. The area under sunflower is forecast at 5.4 million hectares, up 6%, while the area under soybean is forecast to decrease by 11% to 1.8 million hectares.
Oilseed sector of the Ukrainian economy: production, processing, exports in 2026-27.
Based on production forecasts and domestic processing plans, sunflower exports from Ukraine in the 2026-27 marketing season are expected to decline by 14%, soybeans by 15%, and rapeseed by 5%.
The combination of three factors – export duties on soybeans and rapeseed, excessive oilseed processing capacity and sunflower deficit – will lead to an increase in rapeseed and soybean processing in Ukraine in the 2025-26 season. According to FAS forecasts, this trend will continue in 2026-27.
According to FAS, no fresh statistical data on Ukrainian oilseed processing capacity has been released recently, and the previous estimate is about 20 million tons per year. In 2026-27, Ukraine’s sunflower oil production is expected to increase by 15% year-on-year to 5.5 million tons, while soybean oil production is expected to decline by 3% to 551,000 tons and rapeseed oil production is expected to increase by 25% to 820,000 tons.
Ukraine is the world’s leading exporter of sunflower oil. FAS forecasts the volume of supplies of this Ukrainian commodity for 2026-27 at the level of 5 million tons. At the same time, rapeseed oil exports from Ukraine will increase to 825 thousand tons, while soybean oil exports will decrease to 550 thousand tons. The European Union will remain the main market for Ukrainian oilseeds and oils.
