Dipasa Europe market screening 06-01-2023

Dipasa Europe’s market review with information about some major seed, kernel & vegetable oil markets. Do not hesitate to contact us via sales@dipasa.nl for any additional questions or quotations.

Sesame seeds

The worlds biggest sesame crops have been coming out last months, which are Nigeria + India + Sudan (Oct harvest). India’s crop, even though not the biggest crop anymore, still is a very important player in the sesame market. Due to some rainfall during harvesting a part of the crop in India has been destroyed, leaving them short in local market and importing from other countries like Sudan and Brazil. India has become a top 5 importing country in the last 5 years, due to high local demand.

African markets are currently bullish with local prices moving up. Overseas demand is currently high; due to China opening up slowly, after quarantine (the biggest sesame importer in the world), India buying due to local market shortage and Middle East buying is also high in the months to come, due to Ramadan coming up by the end or March.

We therefore expect an uptrend in prices in the weeks to come, both on hulled as well as on natural sesame.

Vegetable oils

The price for sesame oils have slightly decreased due to a decrease in energy prices and stabilization in the transport costs to our refinery facility in Mexico. For avocado oils prices remain stable, there is a lot of commotion in the world of the avocado. Several parties claim that avocado’s are not sustainable, which is partly true but is actually depending on the growing area. In Afrika, for example Kenya most avocado’s grow in jungle areas, without any irrigation. In Spain, avocado’s are mainly planted with irrigation. Therefore, more questions are raised about the supply chain of avocado oil.

Pumpkin kernels

The market for pumpkin seeds has seen a downtrend for quite a while since the last months of 2022. The market has stabilized the last weeks of 2022 and for the first weeks of 2023. The domestic market has a low demand at the moment, the main reasons are new lock downs because of COVID-19 in China. There are still parts of harbors and shops closed and furthermore all logistical movements will stop around the beginning of next week because of Chinese New Year (January 22^nd 2023).

More and more containers with pumpkin seeds are delayed that were planned to ship out to Europe and other parts of the world. As the total crop for pumpkin seeds is known for types shine skin and GWS, the only big price movements we foresee is that of the Chinese Yuan. For organic type pumpkin seeds, we foresee a price increase, the lack of suitable European material will drive up the price.

Flaxseeds

In the last years, Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia were battling for the #1 position in producing flaxseed. These countries are mainly focusing on China, which is importing almost 50% of all the export volumes of these countries. (Western) Europe is nowadays mainly focused on Kazakhstan. This because of the war between Ukraine and Russia and the sanctions of companies in Western-Europe. Dipasa Europe is currently also offering Kazakhstani origin.

During 2022, there will be an update in the EU Regulation 1881/2006 with new maximum levels of Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN). At Dipasa Europe BV we see that several customers have different requests.

Price technically, we see that the flaxseed market is favorable at this moment. We advise to close quantities till at least Q3-2023 if possible. These recommendations are for both Yellow and Brown Flaxseed. In the new year 2023 it is always possible that price changes will appear, especially with the updated EU regulation 1881/2006 about HCN it is uncertain if all volume will be compliant and if this will drive up the price again for Q1.

Sunflower kernels

Currently Europe is still the biggest producer of sunflower seeds, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing producer of sunflower seed. The predictions are that the demand for sunflower seeds will rise with at least 4%, on an annual basis the coming years.

The side effects of the Covid-19 issues in Asia are that production is generally lagging behind. When looking at Sunflower seed, the demand is increasing. The production for sunflower seed oil is running behind, some factories closed their doors because of the energy crises.

In Europe consumers are increasingly better informed about what they consume, and they base their choice on how healthy a product actually is. That’s why sunflower seeds are becoming more popular, as essentially all oil seeds provide a good mix of healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Prices of sunflower seeds remained stable over the last months, but the outlook for the price development is unstable.

Chia seed

Slowly the containers with chia seeds from South-America are arriving in Western-Europe. Prices have risen since the crop came out. Because of the long transit time out of South-America, we have been seeing an increased demand for the last weeks / months, which is resulting in higher market prices. Dipasa Europe BV has enough stock of organic and conventional black chia for spot and contract orders; do not hesitate to contact us when there are questions about pricing and availabilities.

Furthermore, niche markets like (organic) white chia are getting bigger. Dipasa Europe BV is proud to inform that we have sold our first MT’s of (organic) white chia from our partner in South America.

Interesting to mention is that Chia from other origins then Africa or South-America also see an increase in production. Dipasa Europe BV is able to offer conventional black chia from India with a price that is competitive compared to South-American and African black chia seed.

Blue poppy seed

In Europe the market is characterized due a lower trading activity this year. For example, Germany imported 30% less in the second half of 2022. Despite of the given information there is no explanation for this movement.

In other parts of the world the demand is slightly increasing because of the local governments that are approving the sales of poppy seeds. Therefore, prices from Turkish blue poppy seeds are stable but European prices are slightly decreasing. When the demand for blue poppy seed increases and the supply chain is not sufficient, prices will probably rise even more.

The plantation area of organic blue poppy seed in Turkey is 50% less than the year before. Depending on demand, this can have major consequences for the price when the market moves.

Melon Kernels

The main reason why prices are high is due to an import ban of raw material import from Sudan to India (India is importing from Sudan and are hulling the melon kernels). Prices are expected to remain high for the season, expecting volatile price corrections. Import sanctions are not expected to be cancelled any time soon.

Prices of melon kernels have doubled in comparison with last year. Because of this price increase, some companies chose to no longer carry melon kernels in their assortment.

*Kindly note that this information is dated 06-01-2023 and that markets are fluctuating on a daily basis.