KYIV: Russia has resumed attacks on oilseed processing plants critical to Ukraine's exports, striking on Thursday a major facility in the eastern city of Dnipro owned by global agribusiness and food company Bunge .
Before the war with Russia, Ukraine was the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil, shipping 5 million to 6 million metric tonnes of the commodity a year.
According to government figures, revenue from vegetable oil exports in 2025 amounted to $5.2 billion versus $7 billion in 2021.
The Dnipro plant is among Ukraine's five largest and can process 1,600 tonnes of oilseeds per day.
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said earlier that two people had been killed and five injured in attacks that damaged a food business in the city.
Over the past year and a half, Russia has attacked Ukrainian oilseed refineries and vegetable oil terminals four times, including a strike on the Bunge facility in Dnipro in January 2026. Bunge has not yet commented on the attack.
One of Ukraine's biggest vegetable oil producers, Allseeds, said in July it was halting operations in Ukraine's southern Odesa region due to intensifying Russian attacks on port infrastructure.
The closed Allseeds facility can process 2,400 tonnes of sunflower seeds per per.
Allseeds' export terminal was hit in December 2025.
Ukraine is likely to increase its sun oil output to 5.8 million tonnes in 2026/27 from 4.4 million tonnes in 2025/26 thanks to a sharp increase in sunflower seed harvest, analyst APK-Inform said.
The consultancy forecast that Ukraine can export 5.38 million tonnes of sun oil in 2026/27 against 4.47 million tonnes in 2025/26. — Reuters
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
