Russia increases flax seed exports nearly 60% in Jan-June - expert

MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - - In January-July this year, Russia exported about 900,000 tonnes of flax seeds, almost 60% more than in the same period last year, Kirill Lozovoy, an analyst at the OleoScope information and analytical agency, told Interfax.

"The key sales market is China. It accounts for approximately 66% of total sales against 50% a year earlier. The top 5 key importers also include several EU countries and Turkey," he said.

He said that 581,000 tonnes of flax were shipped to China in the first seven months of this year against 271,000 tonnes a year earlier.

This year there is decreased interest from Belgium and Latvia in the purchase of Russian flax. "Shipments to these countries decreased 20% to 125,000 tonnes and 23,000 tonnes, respectively," the expert said. Meanwhile, shipments to Poland tripled to more than 42,000 tonnes, he said. "In January-July last year, flax exports to that destination were nearly 14,000 tonnes," he said.

Lozovoy also noted that the sale of flaxseed oil added 12% for the seven-month period, but the supply of the finished product abroad is still insignificant at just 24,000 tonnes.

"Now, oil flax in Russia lacks support from the processing sector. The emergence of new specialized capacities in the Russian Federation would be an additional driver for increasing the production of both oilseed and value-added products," he said. "Now the main business model for growing flax is focused on the sale abroad of raw materials, not processed products."

"Among the promising areas for flaxseed oil shipments are the large markets of Asia and the Middle East," Lozovoy said.