The oil industry delivered new price lists twice to traders in a short period of time, so in a short period of time it became significantly more expensive. The reason is the jump in the price of sunflower due to the world shortage and the great demand for this oilseed, agricultural analysts explain.
A bottle of oil from well-known domestic factories in the shops of large retail chains yesterday cost from 1.2 to 1.4 euros, which has not been seen on the shelves for a long time, because the price of this strategic product in Serbia has stagnated for a long time. In addition, it is uncertain whether the price of sunflower oil will stop there or we can expect new price increases.
“Earlier, many years ago, it was known that producers produce sunflower for oil mills, and they practically formed the price. In the last five years, exporters and oil mills have been operating equally on our market. They are now competing to get the goods and the one who pays the most. This is in favor of producers, and whether it satisfies them or not is another question. Certainly that price is equal to the one on the international market, and it has increased this year due to shortages,” Vukosav Sakovic, director of the Association of Serbian Grains, told Politika.
According to him, our country produces relatively little sunflower, about 700,000 tons, and the sunflower market is practically open only for a month and a half. At the end of the year in October, oil mills form prices based on the purchase price of raw materials, which makes about 80 percent of the share in the total costs.
Asked whether this is the final price of oil for this season or new surprises await us, Sakovic said that it is not and that “producers have reasons for both price increases and reductions, depending on what will happen next.”
“There will be price increases this year. Oil mills are not in charge of social policy. They provide profit when the international market allows it. If they lower the price, then someone would buy their oil and export it to other markets. If they raised it, then they would again, someone bought it in Italy, Hungary and elsewhere, imported it and strangled them with a low price,” he says.
Manufacturers simply, he points out, have to follow the international market and behave that way. In his opinion, it is definitely certain that we will have more expensive oil than last year, but there is no answer to the question of how long it will last.
In terms of oil consumption, Serbia is at the top of Europe, and at least 97 percent of the oil sold in our stores is sunflower, 021 reports.
