Diversifying Oilseed Import Sources | Kazakh Sunflower Oil Holds the Second-Largest Market Share Among China’s Oilseed Import Sources
2026/03/27
According to a report by the Kazakh International News Agency on the 9th, in 2025 Kazakhstan’s exports of oil and fat products to China reached 440,000 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 44%, with export revenues totaling US$312 million. Among China’s import sources for sunflower oil, Kazakhstan’s market share has risen to 36%, placing it second.
Kazakhstan’s sunflower oil is steadily increasing its market share in China, emerging as a major highlight of China–Kazakhstan agricultural trade. This development not only reflects the expanding demand in the Chinese market but also underscores the dual impact of Kazakhstan’s agricultural structural upgrade and the enhanced efficiency of China–Kazakhstan logistics corridors.
In recent years, Kazakhstan has been gradually restructuring its agricultural sector, which has long relied on raw-material exports, by shifting the focus of development toward oilseed crops and their deep-processing industries. According to official data cited by the Kazakh News Agency, more than 90% of Kazakhstan’s oilseed crops are now processed domestically, with exports increasingly moving away from raw materials and toward higher-value-added vegetable oils and oilseed meal products.
In 2026, Kazakhstan rose to sixth place in the global ranking of sunflower oil exporters and also entered the top three suppliers of sunflower meal to the European Union. Yadkar Ibragimov, Chairman of the National Oilseed Processing Association of Kazakhstan, believes that, thanks to enterprise modernization, capacity expansion, and the optimization of the logistics system, Kazakhstan’s sunflower oil exports have already secured a prominent position on the global stage. The next goal is to rank among the top three exporters worldwide and to increase the sector’s foreign-exchange earnings to US$2 billion.
Industry insiders in Kazakhstan generally believe that China’s vast consumer market provides crucial support for the country’s industrial upgrading. As Chinese consumers’ demand for healthy vegetable oils continues to grow, Central Asian sunflower oil—known for being natural and non-GMO—is gradually gaining attention in the Chinese market.
According to the Kazakh News Agency, since 2024 the Kazakhstan Oilseed Processing Association, in collaboration with Kazakhstan National Railways, has launched a pilot project for the transportation of vegetable oil at the Dostyk–Alashankou border crossing, significantly enhancing cross-border logistics efficiency through optimized transport procedures. Data show that the execution rate of transport plans to China has risen from about 40% in 2023 to over 90%. Meanwhile, cross-border transport infrastructure between China and Kazakhstan continues to be upgraded.
In recent years, the two countries have continuously advanced railway capacity expansion, road transport development, and the establishment of a multimodal transport system, gradually transforming Kazakhstan into a key logistics hub connecting China with the Eurasian continent.
