Sunflower Oil is the Main Type of Vegetable Oil in Russia

According to BusinesStat, during the period from 2006 to 2010 the volume of manufacture of vegetable oil in Russia increased by 4% and reached 2.87 million tons. In 2010 it decreased by 12.9% compared to 2009. The slump in production of vegetable oil had been caused by reducing demand and increasing stocks. The demand of enterprises for vegetable oil in 2010 fell almost by 10%. The demand of retailers for vegetable oil in 2010 remained at the level of 2009. The volume of consumption increased only in the HoReCa sector, backed up by rising sales in fast food chains.

The industrial processing sector, which purchased 1,393 thousand tons of vegetable oil in 2010, remains the major sector of sales. In 2010 1,434 thousand tons of oil were sold through the retailing sector, and 133 thousand tons were realized via the HoReCa sector. Industry consumes large amounts of soybean, palm, coconut and rapeseed oils. The retailing sector generally sells olive and sunflower oils.

Sunflower oil remains the main type of vegetable oil in the Russian market. It takes up 70% of the market turnover. Palm oil ranks second with the market share of 20%. The other types of vegetable oil occupy 10% of the market.

The volume of vegetable oil with high degree of processing is rapidly increasing in Russia. While in 2006 the share of refined and hydrogenated oils was only 41% of the total volume of production, in 2010 their share reached 60%. According to BusinesStat, the share of refined and hydrogenated oils in the total volume of vegetable oil production will have reached 71% by 2015.