Shanghai, 9 November. Kazakh oil mills signed agreements worth 108 million dollars at the 9th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, the National Association of Oilseed Processors said.
The press release's headline calls these deals contracts, while its text calls them agreements; which word is more accurate, shipments will show.
The industry was presented at Kazakhstan's national pavilion by the association and nine domestic oil mills. Association representatives said they have taken part in the expo for the fourth year running, find new partners and sign contracts. Who signed the agreements with whom, and which goods make up the sum, oil, meal or cake, is unknown.
The sum matters against earlier results. On 5 November the Ministry of Trade and Integration reported agreements of about 100 million dollars on the first day of the expo, without naming the deals. At the 7th expo in 2024, according to the same ministry, all of Kazakhstan signed contracts worth 120 million dollars for supplies of meat and fats and oils, dried camel milk, juices and marmalade. Now the oil mills alone name 108 million dollars. These numbers cannot be compared directly: they were counted by different bodies over different periods, and the Ministry of Trade has not yet published an overall result for the expo, which closes on 10 November.
The association also uses the expo as a platform to promote the industry. In Shanghai a presentation event, "Invest in Xinjiang", was held with the participation of Xu Baike, Deputy Secretary-General of the People's Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, and Nurlan Akkoshkarov, Kazakhstan's Consul General in Shanghai. Alexander Yashkov, executive director of the association, spoke about the industry's export potential.
According to him, over the past five seasons the physical volume of exports of Kazakh oil-and-fat products has grown fivefold. In the 2025/2026 season shipments exceeded 1.8 million tonnes and export revenue reached 1.233 billion dollars, also up fivefold. The products go to more than 20 countries, including China, Central Asia, the European Union and the Middle East. China is in second place among the biggest buyers: over five seasons, foreign-currency revenue from exports of vegetable oils, meal and cake to China grew by 385 million dollars to 438 million dollars.
Yashkov put the potential of China's market at 16 million tonnes: that, he said, is the total import of vegetable oils, meal and cake in the current season. For readers far from the industry, the words need explaining. Meal and cake are the solid residues left when oil is made from seeds: meal after solvent extraction, cake after pressing; they are used as animal feed. The association gives revenue for the three products together, so the share of oil itself in the 438 million dollars is not visible.
What it means: The Ministry of Trade named a total on 5 November without saying what the deals consisted of, and now one industry reports 108 million dollars, more than the roughly 100 million the ministry named for the expo's first day. How these numbers relate, and what exactly was signed, contracts or letters of intent, is so far unclear: the Ministry of Trade has not yet published the overall result of the expo.
Who benefits: Oil mills: according to Yashkov, the industry is growing, and the new agreements continue that growth. Farms that grow oilseeds, whose harvest the mills process, indirectly, through demand for raw material: this follows from the logic of the industry, but the press release does not say so. Chinese buyers who need oil, meal and cake, with total imports of 16 million tonnes a season.
Background: The China International Import Expo has been held in Shanghai every year since 2018; in 2026 Kazakhstan is taking part for the ninth time.
We have also reported on Kazakhstan's 100 million dollars of agreements at CIIE and on exports of oil-and-fat products to China.
