This decrease is the result of the reduction of available stocks, as well as a signal that the demand of external markets for sunflower is entering the phase of adjustment after the period of mass purchases. This is the opinion of specialists from the Association of Agricultural and Grain Exporters Agrocereale.
Moldovan sunflower exports in April 2025 amounted to more than 45 thousand tons, which is higher than the figures for April 2021, 2022 and 2023 (10-37 thousand tons). Only April 2024 recorded higher external shipments of this agricultural product at 72.9 thousand tons. The surge in exports in April last year was due to the beginning of technical downtime of local processing plants.
The change in the situation and export dynamics was reflected in the prices of Moldovan sunflower. After the price peak recorded in February 2025 (12.04 lei/kg), the price slightly decreased in March (11.94 lei/kg) and April (11.57 lei/kg). This could be explained by the presence on the market of rather large offers of commercial sunflower. However, since the beginning of May, the average price of demand for sunflower started to grow again and has already reached the maximum mark of this year – 12.28 lei/kg. The specialized association believes that this was the market’s reaction to the reduction of available volumes of commercial sunflower in the country.
During the period July 2024 – April 2025, more than 532 thousand tons of Moldovan sunflower were exported, which significantly exceeds the indicators of the previous marketing seasons. Compared to the final figure of the previous season (453 thousand tons), the increase was 17%, and compared to the 2022/2023 season, sunflower exports increased almost 2.5 times.
