Due to the Ukraine war, cooking oil is becoming scarce in German supermarkets. Sunflower oil is particularly in demand. However, cooking oil is not suitable as a diesel alternative, warns the ADAC.
Sold out sunflower oil can currently be observed in almost every supermarket and discounter. Some branches will therefore regulate the maximum to three bottles per person, for example, as soon as the oil is back on the shelves.
Even in the Italian supermarket Andronaco in Cologne-Ossendorf there was no sunflower oil left on Tuesday evening. This is usually available here in 10 liter canisters on pallets. Whoever asks for sunflower oil will now be put off by the rapeseed oil that is available on the large shelves. Olive oil is also available.
Supermarkets in Cologne: “Now it’s time for the canned food”
“On Saturday there was still sunflower oil,” reports saleswoman Giovanna Mastrandrea, her colleague Anna Ferrara nods in agreement. In addition to cooking oil, flour and sugar are also very popular at the moment.
Compared to the current rush, the Corona hamster purchases for toilet paper were less bad. “Now it’s time for the canned goods,” reports Ferrara.
The saleswomen Giovanna Mastrandrea (left) and Anna Ferrara in the warehouse of the Andronaco supermarket in Cologne-Ossendorf: Sunflower oil is normally stored here in 10-liter canisters. (Source: Tanja Alandt/t-online)
Russia and Ukraine are the main export countries for sunflower oil
The Association of the Oilseed Processing Industry in Germany (Ovid) assumes that sunflower oil will soon be in short supply in Germany. According to Ovid, the world’s most important export countries for this oil are Ukraine with 51 percent and Russia with 27 percent.
Germany covers 94 percent of its sunflower oil needs through imports, only 6 percent comes from domestic production.
The situation was already tense due to a failed harvest in Canada and corona-related logistics problems. That is why prices had already risen before the Ukraine war. As an alternative, Ovid recommends rapeseed oil, with no bottlenecks to be feared.
Salad oil is not a diesel alternative!
But the hamster buyers not only use the cooking oil for cooking: As the ADAC observes, more and more people are trying to fill up their cars with salad oil due to rising fuel prices.
“The biggest problem is the significant difference in viscosity [Zähflüssigkeit, Anm. d. Red.] compared to conventional diesel,” reports the ADAC in a statement. “Vegetable oils lead to starting difficulties and have a negative effect on the performance and service life of the engine.”
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