Bulgaria: Oilseeds and Products Market Update

Bulgarian farmers planted higher area under rapeseed in marketing year (MY) 2022/23 due to attractive and consistently increasing prices. Due to the mild winter, current prospects for the yields are favorable but under the risk of lower inputs’ application. Early FAS Sofia projection for the crop is at 350,000 metric tons (MT). Industry indicates that farmers also plan to expand area under sunflower due to favorable local and export demand, and lower production costs compared to corn. FAS Sofia currently forecasts sunflower area to grow to 860,000 hectares (HA). In MY 2021/22, both rapeseed crush and exports have grown as a result of better crop and good demand. Sunflower exports are at a record low to date at the expense of increased crush. As of early February, Bulgaria leads the EU in terms of exports of sunflower seeds, meal, and oil to third markets accounting for 43 percent, 21 percent, and 46 percent, respectively, of total EU exports of these products.