Pakistan’s export of sesame seeds to China surges to $46 million in first quarter

Pakistan’s export of sesamum seeds to China achieved a historical figure of $45.99 million, rising by 102.49 percent in the first quarter of 2022, said Badar U Zaman, Commercial Counsellor of the Pakistani Embassy.

Badar U Zaman told China Economic Net (CEN) that according to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), China imported around 30,923 tons of sesamum seeds in the first quarter of this year and was one of the main destinations for sesamum seed exports from Pakistan, while in the same period in 2021 it was only around 18,444 tons. Now it has increased 67.65 percent by volume and more than 102% percent by value.

“The main reason for the increasing trade of this product is that after the second phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement signed, Pakistan’s export of sesamum seeds enlarged in the Chinese market because the export duty is zero on this item and many new exporters of this product have been added to the Chinese Customs list, meanwhile Pakistani exporters cultivated those varieties of the sesame seeds that are demanded in China”, he stated.

He further said that Chinese Customs data showed that China imported overall about 401,823 tons of sesamum seeds worth around $600 million from different parts of the world.

Niger with around 77,140 tons worth $116.85 million was founded the country with the largest volume of sesamum seeds exported to China in the first three months of 2022, followed by Togo with $102.60 million and Sudan with $98.18 million.

Pakistan ranked the sixth and shared around 7.67 percent of total exports to China in the first quarter of this year.

Rakesh Pal Khamuani, Director of Kanwal Trading Company Private Limited (Pakistan), a leading sesamum seeds exporter to China told CEN that sesamum seed is a cash crop with good export prices and the demand is increasing but they still need to improve the traditional method of cultivation and seed quality that would help increase yield per acre.

“Last year the crop was more than 105,000 MT and the yield was 480 kg per acre. In Pakistan sesamum is grown in more than 65 districts in which Punjab contains 70-80% of the total productions.

The main reason for the export increase is less local consumption and good price & huge demand that converted farmers to cultivate this crop at larger scale,” he added.

He further said that still, both governments need to work a lot to improve the export of sesamum seeds, especially since the pandemic affected the exports, and GACC should relax its new registration policy for Pakistani exporters.It is worth mentioning that Pakistan exported 92516.55 tons of sesamum seeds to China worth $120.44 million dollars in 2021.