Kazakhstan could fill Russia's niche in EU flaxseed market - analyst

ASTANA. June 4 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan's growing flaxseed exports and strong European demand indicate the country may capture Russia's niche in the EU market, the head of the analytics committee at Kazakhstan's Grain Union Yevgeny Karabanov said.

Kazakhstan exported 35,400 tonnes of flaxseed in April, down by 13,100 tonnes from March due to low stock levels. However, overall exports from September 2024 to April 2025 more than doubled to 413,800 tonnes, compared to 192,300 tonnes in the same period of the previous year, Karabanov said in a Telegram post.

Flaxseed cultivation in Kazakhstan is expected to expand to 1 million hectares in 2025, driven by strong demand from the EU, where a 20% tariff on Russian flaxseed is in effect, as well as favorable prices. Current EXW prices (Ex Works, the price excluding shipping, customs clearance and additional costs) range between $588 and $598 per tonne, Karabanov said.

Starting next year, the EU will raise tariffs on Russian and Belarusian flaxseed to 50%, while Canada's production this year is projected to remain below 230,000 tonnes.

However, Russia exported 167,000 tonnes of flaxseed to the EU from August 2024 to March 2025, out of the bloc's total imports of 378,000 tonnes during that period. The EU's annual flaxseed imports average around 600,000 tonnes.

"In this way, only Kazakhstan can truly replace Russia's exports to the EU. We can already see how much Kazakh flax shipments to EU markets have grown compared to the last/previous marketing [agricultural] years. Russian flax's export geography next marketing year will likely be limited to China and Turkey," he said.

The forecast for Kazakhstan's flaxseed exports in the 2024-2025 agricultural year remains unchanged, at 500,000 tonnes.

The key buyers of Kazakh flaxseed include Belgium, Poland, Germany, Turkey, Afghanistan and China.