Russia's fat-and-oil union is preparing an appeal to the Ministry of Economic Development with a request to introduce additional restrictions on the export of sunflower seeds, Kommersant reports.
As the newspaper recalls, last year Russia reduced export duties on sunflower seeds from 13.3% to 6.5% in fulfillment of the WTO conditions. As a result, the incomes of exporters began to grow, and the volumes of shipments also began to increase. So, according to Sovecon, for seven months of the current season, the export of Russian sunflower amounted to 197.4 thousand tons, which is more than three times higher than in the previous season (62.6 thousand tons). In total, following the results of 2016-17 agricultural year, the export of sunflower seeds may exceed 500 thousand tons.
The representative of Efko Group Aleksey Gavrilov believes that the growth in exports of sunflower can lead to a decrease in the production of sunflower oil by 550 thousand tons, while its deliveries abroad may decrease by 30%. The reduction in the market in money can reach 22.3 billion rubles. This situation can lead to losses for processors and bankruptcy of enterprises.
Fat-and-oil union believes that the solution to the problem is to revise the terms of the WTO. They propose to increase the export duty by 10%, and not to refund VAT to the exporters of sunflower seeds. The second option is to limit the export of this culture or even to ban it altogether.
Source: Sfera Publishing House.
