Hungary becomes EU’s top sunflower-seed producer for 1st time

The EU Commission slightly lowered its forecast of sunflower-seed output in its February estimate for the 2024 oilseed harvest. 

According to recent information by the EU Commission, the 2024 EU sunflower-seed harvest is seen to total around 8 million metric tons, 7,000 tons less than expected at the end of December.

The revision increases the year-on-year decline to 18 percent, as unfavorable weather conditions throughout the year significantly curtailed yield potential.

The harvest also falls 18 percent short of the long-term average, representing the EU’s smallest sunflower-seed harvest since 2015.

The downward revision is mainly due to the smaller crop in Germany.

The commission now forecasts German production at 127,000 tons, 7,000 tons below the December estimate.

This represents a 25 percent drop from 2023 but remains just about 20 percent above the five-year average.

Many farmers had expanded sunflower cultivation significantly in 2022 following the start of the war in Ukraine and the sharp rise in producer prices but scaled back production the following year.

The harvest in Romania also declined compared to 2023, falling 38 percent to 1.2 million tons.

Despite a record area planted with sunflower seed, this would represent the country’s smallest harvest in 15 years.

As a result, Romania lost its top position as the EU’s largest producer, dropping to the fourth place.

In contrast, Hungary climbed to first place for the first time, harvesting 1.7 million tons despite a presumed 13 percent decline from the previous year.

In France, crop development and harvest operations were severely impacted by persistent rainfall, according to research by Agrarmarkt Informations-Gesellschaft (mbH).

With 1.7. million tons currently projected, France ranks as the second-largest producer within the EU community despite an 18 percent decrease compared to the previous year.