December 4 2002, 10:33 Interfax-Ukraine

Prices for sunflower seeds in Ukraine will be stable in this MY - oil crushers' association

No considerable price fluctuations for sunflower seeds are expected in Ukraine in this marketing year (September 2002 - August 2003), as domestic supply of seeds is sufficient, General Director of Ukrainian Oil Crushers' Association Ludmila Zinchenko has told Interfax-Ukraina.

Domestic prices will stay at today's level of about $235 to 240 per tonne till the end of the marketing year with a possible fluctuation of plus 0.5 percent, she said.

"Now we have quite a beneficial price situation in the market of sunflower seeds," she said.

She reminded of some price instability in the beginning of the season, when a question arose about cancellation of the 17-percent export duty for sunflower seeds, which is the main barrier to exports of this commodity from the country.

The association has always been vigorously opposing cancellation of the duty, saying that this would damage Ukrainian oil crushing enterprises.

Ms. Zinchenko thinks that now when Parliament decided to keep up the duty in the current size and not to change the rules of the game for this MY, the price situation has stabilised.

According to data of the association, oil crushing plants have processed to date 950,000 tonnes of new crop sunflower seeds, or 28.8 percent of the crop.

"Raw material stocks at the plants are stable," she said.