A section of Bunge’s oilseed processing facility in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro was hit in morning attacks on 10 September. The plant can process 1,600 tons of oilseeds per day, and no employees were injured.
The strike came as traders reported delays of up to 60 days for sunflower oil shipments from Russia and Ukraine. India is the world’s largest buyer of sunflower oil and has been looking for alternative supplies as Black Sea disruption holds up imports from both countries.
Russia is India’s biggest supplier of the oil. It earned $1.17 billion from exports to India in January-July 2026, up 34.7% from $868.8 million a year previously.
Ukraine had held the position of leading global sunflower oil exporter for 20 consecutive marketing years, from 2005/06 through 2024/25. Before the war with Russia, it shipped 5 million to 6 million metric tons a year.
That position changed in the 2025/26 marketing year, when Russia became the world’s largest exporter for the first time in two decades. Russia exported 4.2 million metric tons, compared with Ukraine’s 4.036 million metric tons.
The shift has unfolded alongside repeated attacks on Ukraine’s processing and export network. Russia hit Allseeds’ export terminal in December 2025, then struck Bunge’s Dnipro facility in January 2026.
Allseeds, one of Ukraine’s biggest vegetable oil producers, halted operations in the southern Odesa region in July as attacks on port infrastructure intensified. Its closed facility had capacity to process 2,400 tons of sunflower seeds per day.
Russia has attacked Ukrainian oilseed refineries and vegetable oil terminals four times over the past year and a half. Disruption to maritime logistics caused by Russian attacks has also weakened Ukraine’s export position.
Ukraine has recently been shipping around 300,000 metric tons of sunflower oil per month, about half its previous level.
India’s recent import figures show the scale of the trade at risk. Russia exported 1.298 million tonnes of sunflower oil to India in 2025, a third less than 1.923 million tonnes in 2024.
India imported 2.89 million tonnes of sunflower oil for $3.46 billion in 2025, compared with 3.74 million tonnes for $3.7 billion in 2024.
Russia is forecast to export 5.1 million metric tons of sunflower oil in the 2026/27 marketing year, while Ukraine is expected to ship 5 million metric tons.
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