Kazakhstan demands reduction of sunflower seeds export duty

Kazakh sunflower seeds at 130–140 thousand tenge per ton, while farmers say a fair price would be around 200 thousand tenge. This price gap threatens farm profitability, as many processors instead import cheaper raw materials from Russia. Earlier, Kazakh farmers appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture to set a minimum purchase price for sunflower seeds, below which oil producers would not be allowed to buy. The current 20% export duty (at least €100 per ton) has been in force since February 4, 2023, and producers have repeatedly requested a review. Government data show that during the duty’s application, 24.1 billion tenge ($44.8 million) was collected for the budget. Over the same period, sunflower oil production rose 2.5 times, and exports grew 4.8 times, pushing Kazakhstan into the world’s top 10 sunflower oil exporters, ranking eighth. Domestic oil ...