KYIV, UKRAINE — While Ukrainian farmers are expected to plant more oilseeds, with the exception of sunflowers, production volumes in 2024-25 could be dampened by lower yields.

Soybean production area is estimated at 2.1 million hectares, an 18% increase, and rapeseed area is estimated at 1.5 million hectares, a 7% increase, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture. Sunflower seeds production area is about the same at 5 million hectares.

Sunflower seed production is estimated at 11.5 million tonnes, a decrease of 4% from 2023-24 while soybean production is estimated at 5.1 million tonnes, a 7% increase, and rapeseed at 4 million tonnes, similar to last season.

Ukraine is a major exporter of bulk agricultural commodities and depends on access to ports and sea routes, all of which have suffered since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Most export bandwidth is dedicated to grains, the FAS said, and oilseed exports fluctuate based on available export capacity.

Overall oilseed exports are expected to grow in 2024-25 due to larger soybean and rapeseed shipments, the FAS said. Exports are estimated at 300,000 tonnes for sunflower seed, similar to last year, 2.9 million tonnes for soybeans, a 7% increase, 3.6 million tonnes for rapeseed, an increase of 22%.