October 13 2004, 16:33 APK-Inform

Head of crushing association thinks it necessary to put further limitations in foreign trade of oilseeds

Ukraine's oilseed crushing association "Ukroliyaprom" believes that the power authorities should intervene in the current situation on domestic market of sunflower seeds, General Director of the Association Liudmyla Zinchenko stated Wednesday.

She said the oil crushers were concerned with poor offer of seeds on domestic market. The crushing plants have been experiencing great difficulties in collecting the raw material stocks, sufficient for industrial processing. Despite the fact that more than 2.8 tonnes of sunflower seeds have been already harvested, the plants' capacities have been loaded on at just about 30 percent.

The situation is aggravated by low quality of seeds. The association expresses concerns that the increased acidity and high content of hulled and broken seeds in the stocks will prevent the seeds from surviving in store for a sufficient time.

According to the association's data, oil content in the seeds, arriving to the crushing plants now, ranges between 39 and 41 percent, which is lower than last season.

Ms. Zinchenko also noted that because of the season's high starting price as compared to the previous season (1,550 hryvnias per tonne against 1,050 hryvnias per tonne of sunseeds in 2003; 5.31 hryvnias = $1), the price for sunflower oil will be increasing too.