China cuts Kazakhstan sunflower seed imports by 16%

Kazakhstan’s sunflower seed exports declined by 15.2% year-on-year to 170.7 thsd tons during September–May of the 2025/26 marketing year. In May alone, exports fell to 12.4 thsd tons, down 47% from April.

According to Grain Union of Kazakhstan analyst Yevgeny Karabanov, the decline was driven by high domestic sunflower seed prices, an export duty of 20% of the customs value with a minimum of €100/t, and the continued expansion of domestic oilseed processing.

China remained the largest buyer of Kazakh sunflower seed, importing 141.7 thsd tons during the first nine months of the season, down 15.7% from a year earlier. China accounted for 83% of Kazakhstan’s total sunflower seed exports, compared with 83.6% in the previous marketing year.

Exports to Uzbekistan fell fourfold to 3.5 thsd tons, while shipments to Tajikistan declined 2.55 times to 0.9 thsd tons. In contrast, exports to Türkiye increased 6.4-fold to 7.7 thsd tons.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan imported 119.4 thsd tons of sunflower seed during the period, broadly unchanged from a year earlier, with most supplies coming from Russia’s border regions. The Grain Union of Kazakhstan raised its 2025/26 sunflower seed export forecast by 5 thsd tons to 210 thsd tons.

Tags: China, Kazakhstan, sunseed