Russian sunflower oil output rises 5.9% to 4.4 million tonnes in January-July

Seven-month output reaches 4.4 million tonnes

Russia’s oil and fat industry produced 4.4 million tonnes of unrefined sunflower oil between January and July 2026, an increase of 5.9% from the same period of 2025, according to data from the Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat, reported by ZOL.ru. The result points to a recovery in cumulative processing volumes after a weaker full-year performance in 2025.

Russia produced 7.2 million tonnes of sunflower oil in 2025, down 12.4% from 2024. The latest seven-month figure therefore represents more than three-fifths of last year’s total output. Direct comparison is limited because the new data cover only January-July, but the increase from the corresponding 2025 period shows that processors entered 2026 with higher cumulative production.

The additional volume strengthens the supply available to the domestic food industry and potentially to exporters. The statistics do not provide figures for domestic consumption, stocks, exports, crushing capacity or sunflower-seed availability, so the precise allocation of the increase cannot yet be determined. For market participants, the central issue is whether higher cumulative output can be maintained as the processing season develops.

July production loses momentum

The cumulative increase contrasts with a marked slowdown in July. Russian producers made 0.5 million tonnes of unrefined sunflower oil during the month, 12.1% less than in July 2025. Output was also 21.6% below the June 2026 level, Rosstat reported.

The July decline means the seven-month growth was generated by stronger production earlier in the period rather than by an acceleration at its end. It also introduces uncertainty over the near-term pace of supply. A single monthly result does not establish a lasting trend, particularly in an agricultural processing industry where raw-material arrivals and plant operating schedules can affect output. Even so, the simultaneous annual and monthly contractions will be watched by crushers, traders and industrial buyers.

If monthly production remains below the previous year’s level, the 5.9% cumulative advantage could narrow. If July proves temporary, processors would retain more room to rebuild annual volumes after the 12.4% fall recorded in 2025. Rosstat’s figures do not identify the causes of July’s contraction, and no conclusions can be drawn from the release about seed prices, processing margins or plant utilization.

Margarine follows a different pattern

Production of margarine, another product of the oil and fat industry, moved in the opposite direction over the two reporting horizons. Output in January-July declined 1.8% year on year to 260,000 tonnes. In July alone, however, production reached 34,800 tonnes, up 11% from July 2025 and 4.1% from June 2026.

For the full year of 2025, Russian margarine production increased 2.4% to 467,000 tonnes. The latest data therefore show that margarine has not matched the cumulative growth recorded in unrefined sunflower oil, although its July performance was stronger. This divergence matters to processors that serve both bulk vegetable-oil markets and downstream food manufacturing.

For sunflower-oil producers and traders, the key signal remains the combination of higher year-to-date output and weaker July production. The 4.4 million-tonne total provides a larger supply base than a year earlier, but the July figures caution against assuming that the same growth rate will continue through the rest of 2026.