London, United Kingdom, Aug. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QP Foods UK highlighted the impact of Black Sea shipping disruptions on sunflower oil supply, saying that rising sunflower oil prices and a sharp escalation in attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea are combining to raise supply costs for buyers of Ukrainian-origin cooking oils.
Vegetable Oil Prices at a Multi-Year High
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Vegetable Oil Price Index averaged 192.0 points in June 2026, up 3.8% from May and 23.3% above its year-earlier level, in a report released July 3. Sunflower oil held broadly steady within that increase, but the FAO attributed underlying tightness in the category to constrained Black Sea export supplies.
That tightness traces back to the harvest. Ukraine’s 2025 sunflower seed crop came in at roughly 10.5–11 million tons, down from 13 million tons in 2024, reducing the volume available for processing and export. In its July 2026 update, the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its forecast for Ukraine’s 2026/27 sunflower oil production to 5.42 million tons, down from 5.63 million tons projected a month earlier, while raising its estimate for Russia — Ukraine’s principal competitor in the category — to 7.72 million tons. Ukrainian FOB sunflower oil prices reached a season high near $1,370–1,385 per ton in early July, and monthly export volumes fell to a two-year low as port disruptions constrained shipments.
Escalating Risk to Black Sea Shipping
Those disruptions have intensified through July and into August. Reports have documented roughly 28 vessels struck in Black Sea waters over the course of a month, including a mid-July strike on a grain-carrying vessel near Odesa that killed multiple crew members. Commercial ship traffic into Ukrainian ports fell to zero on at least one day in late July for the first time since the current shipping corridor opened in August 2023, and container lines including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have suspended calls at the port of Chornomorsk. On August 3, Russia’s Transportation Ministry said it was increasing protection for vessels in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov and developing alternative cargo routes in response to the escalation, according to Reuters.
For exporters and buyers, the practical effect has been felt through insurance rather than through a formal closure of any route: war-risk premiums on Black Sea voyages have risen repeatedly over the course of 2026, adding cost on top of an already tighter physical supply.
QP Foods UK’s Position
QP Foods UK says its operating structure gives it more insulation from these swings than a pure trading or import model would. The company holds inventory in a warehouse in Worcestershire, allowing it to fulfil UK orders from domestic stock rather than tying delivery timing directly to individual Black Sea shipments. Its production in Ukraine covers the full cycle from seed processing through refining and packaging, which the company says gives it more direct visibility into cost pressures at the source than buyers sourcing through intermediaries.
The company says it does not expect Black Sea shipping conditions or elevated vegetable oil prices to ease materially in the near term, and that it is continuing to plan procurement and UK stock levels on that basis.
About QP Foods UK
QP Foods UK is a manufacturer and supplier of refined cooking oils and food sauces, with production based in Ukraine and commercial and logistics operations in the United Kingdom. The company’s product range includes sunflower, rapeseed, and soybean oils, deep frying oil, mayonnaise, mayonnaise-based sauces, mustard, and ketchup, manufactured to FSSC 22000, HACCP, and Halal standards and supplied to customers in more than 40 countries.
Address: 85 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 7LT, United Kingdom
Website: https://www.qpfoods.uk