Between the beginning of the 2025/26 season (September) and the end of March, Russia shipped over 0.75 million tons of oilseed flax to China. This is a third higher than the level in the same period of the previous year and completely exceeds the actual volume of shipments in this direction for the entire 2024/25 agricultural year (0.7 million tons). This was reported by Agroexport.
China began to accumulate about 78% of the total volume of Russian foreign sales, although in September-March 2023/24 this figure did not exceed 50%, since domestic flax was sold to Belgium, Poland, Latvia and other EU countries. After the introduction of protective duties, exports to the European region were minimized, and the positions of companies from Russia were largely replaced by Kazakhstan, the report says.
Against this background, the role of China as a key market for oilseeds from Russia has increased markedly. In addition, demand for it has tightened in Kazakhstan - by 236% compared to the same period last year, Belarus – by 91% and Turkey – by 140%.
China and Belgium are the world's key importers of flax. The demand for linseed oil, as well as meal and cake, in addition to the EU countries, is also provided by Turkey, Chile, the Philippines, Japan and other countries of the world.
