BEIJING:Pakistan’s sesame seed export to China surged to $50.32 million in the first five months of the current year 2022, showing a growth of 47.41 percent on a year-on-year basis, said Badar-uz-Zaman, Commercial Counsellor of Pakistan in China.
He said that according to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC), China imported 33846.15 tons of sesame seed, an increase of 21.35% by volume worth USD 50.32 million. In the same period last year it was 27890.873 tons worth 34.07 million USD.
The Commercial Counsellor told China Economic Net that normally there is a trend of cultivating traditional crops like wheat and rice, but now the Pakistani farmers are also getting knowledge of high-end and high-price products like sesame seed. They are also learning cultivation methods , so hopefully Pakistan is going to be the top exporter of sesame seeds to China in coming years.
Badar said that Pakistan’s sesame seeds export to China achieved a historical figure of 92516.55 tons, $120.44 million in 2021, making China one of the main destinations of sesame seeds export from Pakistan.
“In Pakistan, sesame oil is not used habitually. It is usually used in bakery products or blowouts on naan. However, it has never stopped the market demand for sesame products. The majority of sesames have been exported to the world”, Badar stated.
He further said that the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) data showed that China imported overall 615510.43 tons of sesame seeds worth around $918 million from different parts of the world.
Niger, with 150037.512 tons sesame seeds worth $225.34 million, making the country the largest seller to China in the first five months of 2022, followed by Togo with $156.12 million and Sudan with $144.33 million. Pakistan ranked seven and by worth sharing around 5.47 percent of total exports to China in the first five months of this year.
 It is to be noted that Pakistan’s exports to China crossed $1.605 billion in the first five months of this year, up 5.42 percent year on year. The total volume of trade between China and Pakistan increased nearly 19 percent, amounting to $12.06billion as compared to 2021, which was $10.14 billion due to COVID-19.
