# China reduced demand for Ukrainian sunflower meal ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations

> China reduced imports of meal ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday starting February 17, and Ukrainian sunflower meal exporters have already felt the drop in demand. Sunflower meal remains at $280/t CIF China while Dalian soybean meal prices have dropped. Ukraine's meal prices are expected to stay under pressure, and China took 62% of Ukraine's 2025/26 sunflower meal exports.

- Date: 2026-02-17 · published 2026-02-17T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: trade · region China · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/20714-china-reduced-demand-for-ukrainian-sunflower-meal-ahead-of-lunar-new-year
- Commodities: [Sunflower Meal](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SUNMEAL.md), [Soybean Meal](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SBM.md)

## Why it matters

Weaker Chinese buying and lower Dalian soymeal prices pressure sunflower meal values, which feeds into cheaper protein options for feed buyers in the near term.

## Read by commodity

- SBM: bearish ▼
- SUNMEAL: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| SBM | 2018-08-14 | [Ukraine may supply 1 mln tons of sunflower meal to China — Latifundist.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/63643-ukraine-may-supply-1-mln-tons-of-sunflower-meal-to-china-latifundist-com.md) | +0.1% | -4.1% |
| SBM | 2018-12-28 | [Ukraine exported a record volume of sunflower meal to China — Latifundist.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61677-ukraine-exported-a-record-volume-of-sunflower-meal-to-china-latifundist-com.md) | +3.7% | +2.7% |
| SBM | 2019-09-05 | [China allows imports of soybean meal, rapeseed meal, sunflower meal and sugar beet pulp from Russia](https://feedsoft.ai/events/57185-china-allows-imports-of-soybean-meal-rapeseed-meal-sunflower-meal-and-sugar.md) | -0.9% | +2.8% |
| SBM | 2025-07-29 | [China's soymeal glut raises demand doubts ahead of US soybean export season \| Reuters](https://feedsoft.ai/events/14645-china-s-soymeal-glut-raises-demand-doubts-ahead-of-us-soybean-export-season.md) | +2.7% | +10.4% |
| SBM | 2020-07-03 | [Ukraine and Russia to strengthen the competition on sunflower meal market in the new season – Atria Brokers](https://feedsoft.ai/events/52210-ukraine-and-russia-to-strengthen-the-competition-on-sunflower-meal-market-in.md) | -0.9% | -1.4% |

## Sources

- ukragroconsult.com: https://ukragroconsult.com/en/news/china-reduced-demand-for-ukrainian-sunflower-meal-ahead-of-lunar-new-year-celebrations/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.