• Where are sunflowers grown in Australia?
  • Polyunsaturated and confectionary varieties have been grown to supply niche markets for edible oils and spreads, bird seed, horse feed and other animal feed markets in Australia and exported throughout Asia. Northern New South Wales, Southern Queensland and Central Queensland are the key locations for sunflower production in Australia.
  • Which countries produce the most sunflower oil?
  • For the same period, the production of sunflower oil increased on average almost 4% per year, accounting for 16.6% of the world’s production. Production of sunflower oil is dominated by China, India, and Turkey with 21%, 21%, and 27%, respectively, during the period from 1990 to 2010. Australia accounts for 1.7% of oil production ( Table 20.B ).
  • What is the Australian sunflower industry based on?
  • The Australian sunflower industry is reliant on imports as well as domestic crop production. Although small in comparison to global oilseed production, the industry has an overcapacity when it comes to oilseed crushing and refining.
  • How much sunflower oil does Australia import?
  • Australia currently imports around $100 million of sunflower oil, a market opportunity that some of the smaller vegetable oil processors in regional Australia are keen to tap into. A field of sunflowers in full bloom. Polyunsaturated sunflower oil is high in linoleic acid and is primarily used in margarine and bottled oils.
  • Could Queensland be Australia’s Sunflower Capital?
  • (Supplied: Tim Gersbach) An ambitious plan to produce vegetable oil for biofuel could see a town in Queensland recrowned Australia’s sunflower capital. For decades Emerald in central Queensland was surrounded by fields of bright yellow, but a slump in demand for sunflowers and a deadly plant disease outbreak decimated the local industry.
  • How much oleic sunflower oil is grown in Australia?
  • Of the approximately 5 million tonnes of oilseed grown in Australia each year, sunflower seed accounts for just 40,000 tonnes, while canola (4.2 million tonnes) and cottonseed (0.8 million tonnes) remain the heavy weights. However, there is a consistent demand for high oleic sunflower oil, the bulk of which is imported from overseas.