To produce the amount of oil that was exported last month, it was necessary to process approximately 40,000–41,000 metric tons of sunflower seeds, notes agricultural marketing expert Yuri Riza. According to his findings, the raw material used to produce the oil exported in June was, for the most part, not of Moldovan origin (Logos Pressnote : this presumably refers to Argentine sunflower seeds).
In the first half of 2026, approximately 58,000 metric tons of imported sunflower seeds arrived in the country by sea, which drove the surge in sunflower oil exports in June.
A Change in Leadership
Almost the entire volume of sunflower oil exports from Moldova in June (17,130 metric tons) came from a single company— “DANUBE OIL COMPANY,” which owns an oil and fat processing plant in the Giurgiulești Free Economic Zone. As a result, by the end of the 2025/26 season, this company took first place in sunflower oil exports (36.52 thousand metric tons). The traditional leader of Moldova’s oil and fat market, “FLOAREA SOARELUI” SA, took only second place—with exports totaling 33,64 thousand metric tons of sunflower oil. These two companies accounted for nearly 77% of sunflower oil exports from the Republic of Moldova. (Note from Logos Press: Both companies are part of the“TransOil” group.)
In total, during the last marketing season (July 2025–June 2026), Moldova exported nearly 92,000 metric tons of sunflower oil worth 2.07 billion lei (average invoice price of the product: 22.6 lei/kg). This is significantly higher than the figures for the previous season. During the period from July 2024 to June 2025, sunflower oil exports from Moldova totaled only 19,210 metric tons, worth 437.7 million lei—the weakest result in the last five years.
“The growth in sunflower oil exports from Moldova during the 2025/26 season indicates a return to the ‘top tier’ of exporters of this commodity in the Black Sea region, but not a full recovery of our country’s oil and fat industry’s potential. Export volumes remain significantly lower than the results of the best seasons at the start of the decade—172,000 metric tons and 211,000 metric tons,” concludes Yuri Riza.
