Sunflower seed production set to increase globally

The International Grains Council (IGC) expects global production of sunflower seeds to reach 58.5 million tonnes in its first estimate for the 2024/25 marketing season.
The anticipated increase in production is based in particular on higher yield expectations despite an approximately 2% reduction in the area planted.
According to the IGC, the reasons for the expected decline in area are good global supply ofsunflower seed and the low price level.
Output of sunflower seed in the EU-27 is expected to amount to 10.5 million tonnes, slightly more than the 10.2 million tonnes produced in the marketing period 2023/24.
According to investigations conducted by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft, the IGC anticipates larger harvests especially for Romania and Bulgaria.
Production is also projected to increase in Brazil and Argentina. For Russia, the world's largest supplier of sunflower seed, the council forecasts a harvest volume of 17.4 million tonnes, which translates to a 200,000 tonne decrease on the current season.
For Ukraine the Council projects an output of 16.2 million tonnes, which would be down around 300,000 tonnes, whereas China is not expected to see any significant changes in production.
The IGC has pointed out that the crop forecast is quite vague at this point because sowing campaigns have not started in the most important sunflower seed producing countries.