After the first year of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, the prices of edible oil, one of the products most affected by the war, have stabilized, even in Ecuador.

Before the outbreak of the conflict, 900 ml of cooking oil sold on the national market for an average of between 2 and 3 dollars, depending on the brand and type of oil; rapeseed or sunflower oil was between 2.34 and 3 dollars, 07. However, after the start of the fighting, prices began to rise and reached around 6 dollars, and in the case of special oils, such as olive oil, they exceeded 10 dollars.

Oil prices are stabilizing and falling in some supermarkets driven by discounts and offers

Showing the bills, Verónica, a housewife from the north of Guayaquil, showed that in January 2022, when prices were normal and there was no war, she paid $3.05 per liter of rapeseed oil, while in July of that year, already with the war, he paid $4.39; while last week he paid $3.65.

And that is that between May and June 2022, the most drastic increases took place. In May, the price of crude palm oil, the raw material for edible vegetable oils, rose 223% more than in May 2021. Likewise, sunflower oil rose 200%, rapeseed (176%) and soybean (196%), which caused prices oils on the local market are also skyrocketing and in some cases more than 80% more expensive.

It is about the case of palm oil, whose price per ton in February 2020 was 682 dollars, and after the conflict it reached 1945 dollars.

Why has the price of oil increased?

Óscar Calahorrano, executive president of the National Federation of the Palm Oil Production Chain (Propalma), commented at the time that vegetable oils in general were a problem due to factors such as the Great Plague, the delay in the pandemic and the war with Russia. Ukraine.

Ukraine represents 30% of the world’s sunflower production, and Russia represents between 27 and 28%. Between the two countries, they account for 57% to 58% of world sunflower production.

He explained that the sunflower oil export restriction imposed by Ukraine has led markets to look for supply alternatives such as palm and soybean oil, motivating an increase in demand for these raw materials and, consequently, an increase in their prices to an all-time high. .

By September of that year, oil prices began to fall and stabilize as international commodity prices began to fall.

The Russian-Ukrainian war and palm burning are the main factors behind the increase in edible oil

For example, a ton of crude palm oil that was $4,077 in July fell to $2,788 in September, a decrease of 31.6%. Similarly, rapeseed oil recorded a decrease of 16.5%, sunflower oil of 12.3%, while soybean oil recorded an increase of 0.7%.

Meanwhile, the latest figures for crude palm oil prices, according to the Propalma site, were $1,000 per ton on February 22, 2023, almost 50% of the price it reached during the first months of the war conflict. In supermarkets, the prices of 900 ml of oil are currently between 2.59 and 3.70 dollars, depending on the brand and type of oil.