Kazakhstan: Increase in export volumes of oilseeds

This year, the areas allocated for sowing oilseed crops increased by more than 20% and amounted to almost 2.5 million hectares. Namely, for the sunflower 902.2 thousand hectares were allocated, which means that the increase was 7% and for flax 869.7 thousand hectares were allocated, and the increase was 34%.

Experts predict that the collection of oilseeds can reach a level of 2.2 million tons. The forecasts concerning the export of this type of crops are as follows: sunflower – 255 thousand tons and flax – 370 thousand tons.

According to statistical data, the export volume reached a record of 45.7 thousand tons, almost double the figure for the same period last year.

The main importing country to date is China. The volume of exports to this country amounted to 11.6 thousand tons, which is a quarter of the total export of oilseeds.

The structure of export of oilseeds is the following: 43% of the total volume is the export volume of flax and the export volume of sunflower amounted to 20% of the total volume.

The main countries importing flax today are Afghanistan and Belgium. Uzbekistan and China are the main importing countries of Kazakhstani sunflower.

Kazakh farmers face challenges such as weather conditions, lack of funding, lack of infrastructure and a weak technological base. However, the government of Kazakhstan is taking steps to support the agricultural sector and develop oilseed exports.

Growth prospects for oilseeds exports from Kazakhstan in the coming years look promising, especially with the increase in demand for oilseeds in the world. However, farmers must continue to work on increasing yields and product quality, as well as improving production processes and logistics.

In addition, Kazakhstan may face competition from other oilseed producers such as Russia, Ukraine and China. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to work on improving the quality of products in order to maintain positions in the global market