THE RUSSIAʊUKRAINE WAR TO CREATE A SUNFLOWER SEED OIL CRISIS IN TURKEY

The Russia-Ukraine war may drag Turkey into a sunflower oil crisis, according to Tahir Buyukhelvacigil, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkey’s Vegetable

Oils and Fats Industrialists Association (BYSD). Russia, which seized control of the Sea of Azov, one of the key sources for Turkey’s raw sunflower oil imports, is not permitting 15-16 Turkish vessels loaded with the oil to depart. “Turkey, which has sufficient sunflower oil stocks, including on market shelves, to last until mid-April at the latest, may experience a crisis if those vessels don’t arrive in Turkey,” said Buyukhelvacigil. The BYSD demanded an urgent effort by the Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy to permit the departure of ships. Turkey, which is the world’s top sunflower oil importer with a 32.4% share of the global supply, imported 50.6% of its sunflower oil from Russia and 14.6% from Ukraine in 2020-2021. Total imports from the two countries are estimated to comprise 70% share of Turkey’s sunflower oil imports in 2021-2022, according to the Agricultural Economics Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. ALI EKBER YILDIRIM