Kazakhstan is the world's largest producer of oil linseed. In the 2017/2018 season, the country received a harvest of 683,3 thousand Tonnen and surpassed the previous leaders, Russia (603,2 thousand tons) and Canada (555 thousand tons).
Since then, the first position has held securely. In the penultimate season, 2020/2021, a record harvest of flex seeds obtained from oil – 1 million 58,4 thousand tons.
However, in the current season, Russia has taken the lead: according to estimates by the Grain Union of Kazakhstan, domestic farmers produced 2021 thousand tons in the 2022/775,6 season flax, while the Russian ones produced 930 thousand tons. The reason is clear – the extreme drought that Kazakhstan faced. There was also a slight decrease in cultivated area – from 1 million 526 thousand Hektar in 2020 to 1 million 496,1 thousand hectares in 2021.
Nevertheless, the lack of volume offset the increase in prices, which rose from $428 in March 2021 to $761 in March 2022 in the Kazakh home market. In Europe, prices rose even more sharply over the same period - from 515 to 1035 Dollar pros Tonne.
This season, Belgium came first among buyers of Kazakh flax, overtaking China. In the first six months of the current season (from September 2021 to February 2022), this European country bought 65,8 thousand tons, while China has only 27,1 thousand tons. In the same period of last season, the figures were different: China - 85,9 thousand tons, Belgium - 78,5 thousand tons.
Deliveries to Poland increased slightly (48 thousand tons versus 41,9), and exports to Turkey quadrupled – from 3,8 to 15 thousand tons. Deliveries to Germany fell by a third – from 13,1 to 10,3 thousand tons. Also among the big buyers – Russia (7,8 thousand tons) and Afghanistan (4,3 thousand tons).
So, TOP 5 importers of flaxseed from Kazakhstan: 1. Belgium, 2. Poland, 3. China, 4. Turkey, 5. Germany.