IGC forecasts larger sunflower seed supply

Russia, Ukraine and the EU account for roughly three quarters of global sunflower seed production.
In these key regions, 2025/26 harvests are expected to exceed those of the previous year. Overall, global sunflower seed output is projected to increase 9%.
According to latest data from the International Grains Council (IGC), global sunflower seed production in the 2025/26 season is forecast at around 56.6 million tonnes.
This translates to a year-on-year increase of just less than 9%.
The key factor for this rise is expected larger harvests in Eastern Europe and the EU.
For Russia, which remains the world's largest producer of sunflower seed, the IGC projects an approximately 8% increase over 2024/25, bringing the harvest to 18.3 million tonnes.
Ukraine's harvest is seen to grow even more significantly, by 11%, to reach 14.5 million tonnes.
However, the harvest volume of 16.5 million tonnes achieved in 2023/24 will probably not be matched. For the EU-27, the IGC currently forecasts a harvest of 9.4 million tonnes, which would be up approximately 14% from the previous year's 8.3 million tonnes.  Turkey and the US are also expected to harvest more sunflower seed.