Cooking oil on shelves in a Delhaize supermarket in the south of Luxembourg. Photo taken on 24 March 2022.;

Whilst neighbouring cities in Germany are already experiencing sunflower oil shortages linked to the war in Ukraine, this does not (yet) seem to be the case in Luxembourg.

A recent trend has emerged in several supermarkets and grocery shops across the border in Germany: empty supermarket shelves and the mass or "panic" buying of sunflower oil.

By recent estimates, Ukraine and Russia together account for global exports of up to 80% of sunflower oil, 30% of wheat and 19% of corn. In light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, supply chain shortages are expected.

Chronicle.lu thus reached out to Luxembourg supermarket chains Cactus and Delhaize to find out how they have been impacted so far (if at all).

Representatives of both Cactus and Delhaize assured that there are no sunflower oil shortages in their Luxembourg stores at present and asked that customers do not resort to stockpiling. "Stock problems could arise from massive stocking behaviour by customers so it is important to reassure them that the products are available", explained one Delhaize spokesperson.

Cactus reasoned that although some suppliers have issued warnings about the availability and prices of certain product categories, in particular those of sunflower oil, if consumption remains at a normal level, there will not be any stockouts.

One Cactus representative also clarified that the supermarket chain is better hedged as they source local and regional products in essential categories, like flour and oil, and a large part of its sales is covered by local products.

Similarly, Delhaize confirmed that its Luxembourg supermarkets are not currently limiting the volumes of sunflower oil purchased by each customer, as they have sufficient stocks.

Taking note of the role of other supply chain challenges, the Cactus representative mentioned that further complexity and constraints could arise from secondary issues, for example extra costs or shortages in packaging, defects and raw materials, which cannot be foreseen.