Kazakhstan increased sunflower oil exports by 1.6 times in 2023

In 2023, Kazakhstan supplied 364.4 thsd tonnes of sunflower oil to foreign markets, which is 1.6 times more than in 2022, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said. Last year, the volume of supplies amounted to $321.1 mln in value terms. The main importers are Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and China, Bektenov said in a response to a parliamentary inquiry. The share of unrefined oil accounted for 316.2 thousand tons (87% of all supplies), refined oil – 48.2 thousand tons (13%). There are more than 60 sunseed crushing plants in Kazakhstan with a total capacity of 3 mln tons per year. In 2023, the gross harvest of sunflower seeds amounted to 1.2 mln tonnes, and the crushing plants were utilized at 40% of their capacity. Bektenov reminded that since February last year, Kazakhstan has been imposing an export tax on sunflower seeds in the amount of 20%, but not less than 100 euros per ton. “As a result of the introduction of the export tax on sunseed, oil production increased from 331.1 ...