Asaja-Sevilla has indicated that sunflower has taken on a prominent role in Andalusia this year, with 240,862 hectares sown, representing 29% of the national area (820,000 ha). Of these, 132,355 hectares are located in the province of Seville, which accounts for 55% of the Andalusian total and has registered an increase of 28% compared to the previous campaign (95,310 ha).
As explained by Asaja-Sevilla in a statement issued after the conference "Sunflower cultivation under debate: analysis of the current and market situation," organized together with the Seville Grain and Oilseed Exchange, this growth of almost 30% in the community confirms the consolidation of sunflower as "one of the most interesting alternatives for the farmer."
The meeting brought together more than a hundred producers and representatives from research, marketing, and industry, with the aim of examining the development of the campaign, market behavior, and the prospects for this crop considered strategic.
The conference, held with the support of the Seville Chamber of Commerce, Syngenta, and the Caja Rural del Sur Foundation, was inaugurated by the president of the Andalusian Institute of Agricultural, Fisheries, Food and Ecological Production Research and Training (IFAPA), Marta Bosquet, the president of the Seville Grain and Oilseed Exchange, Pablo González del Corral, and the president of Asaja-Sevilla, María Morales.
Along with its economic competitiveness, its "excellent adaptation" to the requirements of the new CAP, aimed at promoting diversification and crop rotation, has been highlighted, as well as its potential to generate added value and economic activity in rural areas.
Boost of high oleic sunflower and attractiveness for the farmer
Within this evolution, Asaja has underlined the rise of high oleic sunflower. In Andalusia, it is estimated that this type will account for between 75% and 80% of the sown area, consolidating a clearly upward trend. This advance responds to the "growing" demand from the agri-food industry, which "requires more stable vegetable oils with a better nutritional profile."
In this regard, Morales has emphasized that sunflower has become an "especially attractive" option for farmers, both due to the "low profitability" of other herbaceous crops with high costs and depressed prices, and due to the complications that successive storms generated during planting. Thus, he has argued that "sunflower today represents a link between unprofitable land and the demand of an industry in need of national product."
He also recalled that Spain has a "structural deficit" in oilseed production, which is why he considered it "a priority" to increase national production to reduce external dependence and ensure the supply of raw materials to the Spanish industry of vegetable oils and flours. In this way, he stressed that sunflower is a "strategic" alternative for both rainfed and irrigated farms and that it responds to the "growing" demand for national, traceable, and sustainable products.
Agronomic value, sustainability, and challenges of climate change
For his part, Bosquet has highlighted the "strategic role" of sunflower for Andalusian rainfed agriculture and has emphasized its contribution to the sustainability of farms, since "in addition to its economic weight, it provides high agronomic and environmental value." He added that "it improves soil structure and fertility, favors biodiversity, requires less use of inputs, and shows good resistance to diseases, making it a natural ally of Mediterranean ecosystems."
At the same time, he warned that the main "challenge" for the crop is to adapt to the effects of climate change, market volatility, and the increase in production costs. To face these challenges, he highlighted the research work of Ifapa in the design and evaluation of new varieties and cultivation techniques that "allow for improved productivity and profitability of farms."
In the last campaign alone, the Institute has carried out more than twenty trials with sunflower in different municipalities in Seville, with the aim of providing farmers with tools that facilitate decision-making and move towards a more sustainable and competitive production model. "If there is no profitability, there is no sustainability," the president stressed.
World record for oilseeds and the importance of sunflower
In the keynote speech of the conference, Northstar Brokerage Commodities partner Pedro Villa, examined the evolution of the international oilseed and vegetable oil market, highlighting that the next season will reach a new historical maximum with a global production of oilseeds of 703 million tons, driven above all by soybeans, which will represent 63% of the total, with 441 million tons.
Next are rapeseed, with 86 million, and sunflower, with 63 million, so that these three crops account for 85% of global supply. In the last three years, world production has increased by almost 30 million tons thanks to the advance of soybeans (15 million), rapeseed (10 million) and sunflower (8 million), which reflects a sustained expansion to meet "constantly increasing global demand".
In the field of vegetable oils, world production will also reach a "historical" maximum of 240 million tons this year, with sunflower contributing around 10%. However, consumption practically equals production, with 273 million tons, which places the stocks-to-consumption ratio at 12.8%, the "lowest" level in the last five years, "an exciting figure that shows that the world is prepared to absorb this increase in production," assured Villa.
This balance between supply and demand has sustained price expectations for oilseeds. Although palm oil continues to dominate international trade with 48 million tons exported, sunflower oil maintains a "strategic" position, with 10% of world production and around 16 million tons in foreign trade, a volume similar to that of soybean oil despite this oilseed producing seven times more seed.
Market Outlook and Climate Risks
Regarding the outlook, a "favorable" scenario for sunflower and rapeseed has been pointed out despite the forecast of record harvests. Rapeseed will reach a global production of 86 million tons, but stocks at the end of the season will be the "lowest" in the last four years due to strong demand.
At the same time, the market will remain attentive to the climatic risks linked to the "El Niño" phenomenon, which could cut palm oil production in Southeast Asia in 2027 and further tighten the vegetable oil market. This context, added to the price differential that sunflower oil has maintained during the last year compared to soy and palm, has reinforced the profitability expectations of this crop for the coming campaigns.
These forecasts come after a year conditioned by high temperatures in the Black Sea basin, where nearly 70% of world production is concentrated, which "significantly" reduced harvests and pushed the market up. After reviewing the general outlook, Villa has focused his analysis on the international sunflower market, whose world production is expected to reach a record high of 63 million tons in the next campaign."