South Africans can expect steep price hike in 2-litre oil due to war in Ukraine

South Africans are likely to experience even more pain when they go grocery shopping in the near future.

Edible oil prices continue to soar, with sunflower oil up by 55% and canola oil by 40%, said Morne Botes, the commercial director at Southern Oil (SOILL).

Botes said consumers can expect to pay R119.99 for a 2-litre bottle of oil in a month’s time. At the moment it costs between R80 and R90 on average for a 2-litre bottle of oil in South Africa.

In an interview with 702 on Thursday, Botes explained that Russia’s war in Ukraine has affected the supply of sunflowers. Russia and Ukraine are the major suppliers of sunflower oil in the world.

According to Botes, supply was already tight before the war broke out.

“Before the war broke there was already a tight supply on vegetable oil, soya, sunflower and canola,” said Botes.

Sunflower oil supply

He said that South Africa does not produce enough sunflowers to meet local demand.

Speaking to Business Insider, Botes said the increased edible oil prices would likely remain for the next six months, depending on the supply of European canola and sunflower crop in September and October 2022.

“Whether it’s a ‘good or bad’ crop will show if it remains for longer or if we might see some relief on pricing,” Botes said.

Botes added that it won’t only be edible oils that increase in price, but also products such as margarine, sauces, crumbed products and products that are oil infused.

He also said that the full increase is yet to hit consumers.

“The full impact is yet to come, pricing has increased to the retailers to trade, not pulled to shelves yet but expect it soon,” Botes explained.

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