Following up on our recent post about the flaxseed market situation, we’re diving deeper into the latest export stats and exploring the influence of the Russian 2022 crop on the decreasing prices for Kazakh’s flaxseed
Flaxseed Stats
Kazakhstan exported 302 000 tons of flaxseed in the six months after harvest from September 2022 to February 2023, a 58% increase from the previous year
China’s flaxseed imports from September 2022 to February 2023 reached 129 800 tons, nearly five times more than in the same period of the last season when only 27 000 tons were imported
Belgium reduced its imports from 65 000 tons to 54 000 tons, while Kazakhstan’s new business partner, Afghanistan, imported 43 000 tons in the first six months of the season, compared to just 4 270 tons a year ago.
Big 2023 Stocks & Russian Flaxseed Impact
The export dynamics have seen a growth in recent months, with China and EU countries resuming their flaxseed purchases
Other ‘new’ business partners (like Afghanistan) increased their purchasing volumes and become important buyer of Kazakh flaxseed
Despite this, an excess of flaxseeds in the market has contributed to the price drop, as nearly 600,000 tons are still available from the 2021 Kazakh crop
This surplus results as well from very good harvest of flaxseed in Russia in 2022, which has also increased flax exports to China and India and is in direct competition with Kazakhstan
The significant price advantage offered by Russian flaxseed has put pressure on Kazakhstan’s flaxseed market, driving sellers to reduce their prices despite the higher demand for their product.
The Quest for Quality
While the price advantage of Russian flaxseed has been significant, the quality factor should not be underestimated
EU buyers, in particular, have shown a strong preference for Kazakh flaxseed due to its superior quality. When faced with a choice between the two origins, buyers are more likely to opt for flaxseed from Kazakhstan
According to EU importers, Russian flaxseed is very often exceeding pesticides EU limits and HCN acid results are higher than from Kazakh flaxseed
Sum Up
This year’s smaller crop is rather inevitable (the government of Kazakhstan has already spoken about it) – but the quantities of flax available for sale are still huge – both from the 2021 and 2022 season
How will the flaxseed market develop in the coming months, and will we continue to observe price drops until new crop?
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