Kazakhstan Linseed Exports Surge Amid EU Tariff Hike

Kazakhstan's linseed exports have surged in recent months, putting pressure on prices in Ukraine and the EU. According to the Analytics Committee of the Grain Union of Kazakhstan, the country's linseed exports increased by 17.1% in June compared with May to 83.5 thousand tons.

The overall increase in exports for the first 10 months of the 2025/26 season is 2.41 times year-on-year, reaching a record 1.16 million tons, more than double the total exports for the entire 2024/25 season.

The main drivers of this growth are higher import tariffs on Russian linseed in the EU, which have risen to 20% in 2025 and 50% in 2026. As a result, Kazakhstan's linseed exports to the EU have increased significantly, particularly to Belgium (330.7 thousand tons) and China (456.2 thousand tons), which now account for 67.8% of total exports.

With prices falling over the past three months from €600-700/t to €480-520/t DAP Poland/Czechia and €530-570/t DAP Belgium/Germany, depending on quality, linseed producers in Ukraine are facing a challenging market environment. Ukraine's harvest for 2025/26 is expected to reach around 66 thousand tons, its largest crop since the 2017/18 season.