Bulgaria's sunflower harvest is good this year, and in some areas it's a record, but growers say their profit stays almost the same because fertiliser, fuel and services all cost more, grain producers told Bulgarian National Television (BNT).
Wholesale sunflower oil now sells for 1.76 euros a litre, according to the State Commission on Commodity Exchanges and Markets. That's 10 cents more than this time last year, even though the price of sunflower seed is close to last year's level.
Yields are high in the Dobrudzha region and around Polski Trambesh. The harvest was also affected by rain that fell in autumn and spring.
One grain producer said farmers are selling sunflower seed at the same price as before while oil has got more expensive, and he can't work out how that price is set. "What you're left with is calluses on your hands and not much money," he told BNT.
Another grower said that with an average yield of over 300kg and a price of 500 to 550 euros for sunflower seed, things would be in decent shape. He added that farmers have poured money into machinery and labour, and that money has to cover their losses too.
There's trade going on, but it depends on how active processors and traders are. For now, the crop is sitting in farmers' storage, says Radostina Zhekova, head of the Dobrudzha Union of Grain Producers and a board member of the National Association of Grain Producers (NAZ). "Argentine sunflower came in, Bulgarian sunflower went out — exactly the same amounts," Zhekova told BNT, referring to the start of 2026.
Oil buyers say buying it has become a luxury and they struggle to stock up for the future, while producers say they're selling their crop too cheap.
Growers warn that Bulgarian sunflower could end up being exported, only for processors to import raw material from abroad later.