The largest importers of oil warned that from June in the country will begin to feel the restrictions of edible oil, due to the high decline in supply in European markets.
After many countries in Europe, which have imposed restrictions on the purchase of edible oil by consumers in supermarkets, in the Albanian market the first to suffer supply restrictions are small traders. Small food businesses contacted by Monitor claim that they can not buy more than 15 or 30 liters of sunflower oil (1-2 boxes) from wholesale stores, due to lack of supplies.
"Most points do not supply more than 30 liters of oil, as they also lack supply. The high price is also a concern, despite the fact that the consumer continues to buy brands of sunflower oil. As for the oil with a cheaper price, but which is a new brand that has recently appeared on the market, there is no demand ", affirms Qamil Ajazi, the manager of a grocery store in the Fresk area.
The decline in sunflower seed production in Europe and the rise in price started as early as 2020, while the start of the Russia-Ukraine war deepened the shortage of production even further and raised the price. At the beginning of March, sunflower oil was sold for 340 lek / liter from 260 in February. Compared to February, the price for May 2022 is 46.5% more expensive.
Currently the selling price of sunflower oil, determined by the Transparency board is 381 ALL / liter for the consumer and 346 ALL for the sale by the consumer. For importers the profit margin set by the board is 35 ALL per liter and for retailers 6 ALL per liter.
In addition to the lack of supplies, small businesses raise the concern that the profit margin left to the majority points is 50% lower than the profit margin approved by the board. Today I am supplied with 15 liters (1 box) of "Floriol" oil at a wholesale price of 377 ALL and with 15 liters of "Olim" oil at a price of 370 ALL per liter. We can not supply more than two boxes. The sale price for both types of oil will be 380 ALL. With these profits we are supplying this product just so that the customers do not miss it, as we do not even manage to cover the cost of supply. "Most cars have not come for weeks to bring us goods to grocery stores," says another small business leader in Tirana.
Importuesit më herët pohuan se në këtë situatë krize nuk përbën më shqetësim çmimi i vajit të lulediellit, por mungesa e gjetjes të produktit. Drejtori i përgjithshëm i kompanisë “Erbiron” që importon vajin e ambalazhuar hungarez “Floriol” z. Tedi Maraj tha më herët për “Monitor” se nga muaji qershor dhe përgjatë gjithë stinës të verës në treg do të ketë mungesë të produktit. Maraj theksoi se kompania nuk mund të krijojë më tepër se 30 ditë rezerva, pasi në Hungari nuk gjen më furnizime.
Lack of supplies was also warned by another importer. "We are going around a situation that is in danger of not having oil in the market starting from the summer season. Already due to the bombings in Eastern Ukraine operators have cut off supplies from this country. Supplies provided by Ukraine last on the market for 1 month. In Bulgaria and Serbia the price of oil continues to be high in the range of 420 to 430 ALL per liter with VAT. "In Europe, due to declining supply, the amount of imports is limited," the oil trader said earlier. For sunflower oil the situation is aggravated, as 80% of world consumption is covered by Ukraine and Russia. In these countries in March it was not possible to sow sunflower seeds./Monitor