The Caspian Sea Becomes a New Export Corridor for Kazakh Vegetable Oil

Kazakhstan continues to expand export routes for its processed agricultural products. For the first time, a shipment of rapeseed oil has been successfully exported from the port of Aktau, marking an important milestone in the development of the Caspian export corridor.

According to the National Association of Oilseed Processors (NAOP), the first vessel carrying 5,000 tons of rapeseed oil was loaded on April 4. The buyer was Iran’s Kourosh Food Industry, while the supplier was one of Kazakhstan’s leading oil processing plants affiliated with the association.

In addition, loading of a second vessel carrying 5,000 tons of sunflower oil has been completed, confirming strong international demand for Kazakh oil and fat products and highlighting the potential of the new Caspian export route.

Industry representatives note that Iran represents a significant market opportunity. The country imports approximately 3.5 million tons of vegetable oils and oilseed meal annually, including around 1.5 million tons of vegetable oils.

The association emphasized that the preferential trade regime between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran, together with the development of logistics through the port of Aktau, creates favorable conditions for expanding exports. Over the past three years, Kazakhstan exported more than 100 thousand tons of oil and fat products to Iran, the majority of which consisted of meal products.

According to NAOP estimates, the port of Aktau could potentially handle shipments of 150–200 thousand tons of vegetable oil annually. In the longer term, total exports of vegetable oils and meal products to Iran could exceed 500 thousand tons per year.

The development of the Caspian route is viewed as an important step toward diversifying Kazakhstan’s export markets, strengthening international trade connectivity, and increasing foreign currency revenues from the country’s processing industry.

Source: APK-News