Kazakhstan’s exports of sunflower husk pellets reached 63,200 metric tons in the first nine months of 2026, 3.56 times the volume shipped a year earlier. The pellets are made by compressing discarded sunflower seed shells for use as fuel.
Export revenue increased by 515% to $3.4 million, according to export figures from the National Association of Oilseed Processors of Kazakhstan (NAPMK), published by the Ministry of Agriculture on November 5.
The nine-month volume was nearly double the 33,400 metric tons exported in all of 2025. Poland accounted for approximately 98% of last year’s shipments. The ministry did not provide a breakdown by destination for 2026.
Polish power plants use the pellets as biomass fuel. The ministry said a single large plant could consume up to 30,000 metric tons per month, but did not identify the plant or state whether it buys Kazakh pellets.
Sunflower husks account for 14% to 18% of the weight of seeds processed into oil, depending on seed quality, according to Yadykar Ibragimov, chairman of NAPMK’s board.
Most medium-sized and large oil mills in Kazakhstan already use some of these husks as boiler fuel to produce steam for processing. The surplus can be sold as pellets, whose higher density makes storage and long-distance transport more efficient.
As many as 10 factories in Kazakhstan produce a combined total of up to 10,000 metric tons of pellets per month, nearly all for export. The ministry also cited one large processing plant that uses husks to generate electricity to light its production buildings and grounds.
The growth of this business is closely tied to Kazakhstan’s expanding sunflower industry. In 2026, the area planted with sunflowers increased by 25% to 2.2 million hectares. The Pavlodar, Kostanay, Akmola, and North Kazakhstan regions accounted for approximately 90% of that expansion.
The country’s existing oil mills have a combined annual processing capacity of 4.4 million metric tons of sunflower seeds, providing a potential source of additional husks as processing volumes increase. However, the Agriculture Ministry acknowledged in October that domestic sunflower seed supplies remain insufficient to meet processors’ demand.
NAPMK estimates that Kazakhstan could export 250,000 metric tons of sunflower husk pellets annually in the medium term, roughly 7.5 times its total exports in 2025. The association said further growth would depend on the expansion of sunflower cultivation and processing, alongside sustained demand for biomass fuel in Europe.
Pellet exports remain small compared with Kazakhstan’s ambitions in the oilseed sector. Under its latest export roadmap, the government aims to increase annual exports of oils and fats to $1.5 billion and make Kazakhstan one of the world’s four largest sunflower oil exporters by 2028. The Agriculture Ministry has also identified a place among the top three exporters as a longer-term objective.
Foreign investment could also increase processing capacity. Iran’s Golrang Industrial Group and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture agreed in May 2026 on a proposed $70 million oil extraction plant capable of processing up to 3,000 metric tons of sunflower seeds per day.
