Today, there are 240 oil extraction plants in Uzbekistan. Their capacities are loaded at 40-50%, declared Alisher Makhmudov, expert on agriculture and logistics of Central Asia within Asia Grains&Oils Conference in Tashkent 2021.
«The Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, Association of fat-and-oil enterprises of Uzbekistan “Uzyogmoysanoat” are working on diversification of planted areas to favor oilseed crops – soybean, safflower and other – to provide processing capacities with required volume of raw materials. However, there is a lack of oilseeds», - he explained.
In 2019, Uzbekistan imported more than 300 thsd tonnes of oilseeds, including 270 thsd tonnes of sunflower seed. In 2020, the import nearly halved due to the temporary ban on export of sunflower seed from Kazakhstan. Last year, Uzbekistan imported only 150 thsd tonnes of oilseeds, including 126 thsd tonnes of sunflower seed.
In January-March 2021, Uzbekistan imported 55.5 thsd tonnes of oilseeds, including 47.8 thsd tonnes of sunflower seed. Import of crude vegetable oil totaled 14 thsd tonnes, including 11.2 thsd tonnes of sunflower oil.
