In November 2023, according to official statistics, around 26 thousand tons Sunflower seeds from Kazakhstan sold on foreign markets. This is the highest volume of oilseed shipments since February last year, when the country imposed an export duty on the crop.
The National Association of Oilseed Processors (NAPMK) notes that an average of about 20.000 tons of sunflower seeds from Kazakhstan go abroad every month.
Despite the shortage of sunflowers in the domestic market, which this year was aggravated by the negative impact of climatic conditions both in the growing season and during the harvest season, proposals to abolish the export duty, which is higher in comparison with the Russian customs duty, regularly appear is 2,5 times lower,” emphasizes the NAPMK. – In addition, wet and low-quality sunflowers cannot be exported until they have met the required conditions. And these kinds of emissions by some interested parties are just a means of lobbying for personal agendas while jeopardizing the country's food security and lack of accountability for the results of the proposed actions.”
The industry association also called false the claim that sunflower purchase prices in Kazakhstan fell due to the introduction of an export duty.
“The underdeveloped domestic processing industry does not allow solving the problems of selling Grains to solve in the current season. At Wheat and Corn for example, there are no sales in both export and domestic markets. It is convenient for grain traders to associate the fall in sunflower prices with the introduction of the export duty, but in 2023 prices for almost all crops – both grain and oilseeds – have fallen significantly,” – said the association.
They added that unscrupulous traders are pressuring farmers and processors by publishing misinformation about the state of affairs in the oil and fats industry.
Source: oleoscope (Russian)
