Sunflower Seed Export Statistics: Bayannur and China's Role in the Global Market

On China's own reports, HS 1206 sunflower seed exports were 480 thousand tonnes in 2024, worth $819 million (UN Comtrade). China also imports some sunflower seed, so its role in the trade is more nuanced than one figure suggests. This guide explains what the data show and what they leave out.

Is China a Net Importer or Exporter of Sunflower Seed?

Both, depending on the category, and this distinction matters. China also imports sunflower seed: USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service reports imports of 0.13 million tonnes in marketing year 2024/25, with Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Russia as the top suppliers, while exports averaged 455,000 tonnes a year in recent years, with Russia, Iraq and Iran as major destinations (USDA FAS). But that's a separate trade flow from confectionery/in-shell sunflower seed, the category XingYi Trading exports, where China is a net exporter of sunflower seed, not an importer.

What Does USDA Say About China's Sunflower Seed Trade?

USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (GAIN report CH2026-0032) reports that China's sunflower seed exports average about 455,000 tonnes a year, with Russia, Iraq and Iran as the top destinations. Its imports are much smaller, at about 0.13 million tonnes in marketing year 2024/25, with Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Russia as the top suppliers. China is therefore a net exporter of sunflower seed in the USDA data.

USDA also estimates that about 75% of China's sunflower production is confection type, out of roughly 2.35 million tonnes in total. These are estimates by an attaché report, not customs records, so use them to understand the market and use the customs data above to compare years and destinations.

A customs heading such as HS 1206 cannot separate confection from oil-type seed, so neither source lets you read confection exports off the trade data directly. Ask your supplier for the product, grade and specification on the quote instead. XingYi Trading supplies in-shell confection seed only (361, 363 and Tongqing No.6) and quotes FOB in metric tonnes.

How Should a Buyer Use These Statistics?

Use the statistics to understand the market, then move to the specification. Customs data tell you how much seed moved and at what declared value; they do not tell you the grade, size or cleanliness of a given lot. Put those in the quote: series, quantity in metric tonnes, bag weight, bags per container and FOB price. XingYi Trading supplies in-shell confection seed and quotes on that basis.

Where Does China's Raw Seed Import Volume Come From?

This is a separate, smaller trade flow from the confectionery export trend covered above, the two move somewhat independently of each other, since they serve different end markets (oil crushing versus direct human snacking).

How Can a Buyer Verify These Trade Figures Independently?

Beyond the regional and enterprise-level figures cited above, UN Comtrade and the World Bank's WITS platform allow direct queries of country-level export and import data under HS code 120600, letting a buyer pull current figures for a specific year and partner-country pairing rather than relying solely on secondary reporting.

Which Markets Are Driving Demand for Chinese Confectionery Sunflower Seed?

This lines up with what we've covered in our regional guides to sourcing for the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and North America.

Where Can Buyers Find Independent Trade Data on This Market?

UN Comtrade and the World Bank's WITS platform track country-level sunflower seed export and import figures by year and partner country under HS code 120600, for buyers who want to verify trade flow data independently rather than relying on any single source.

What Does This Trend Mean for Buyers Sourcing From China?

A growing, established export trend, rather than a speculative or newly emerging one, generally means more supplier experience with international documentation, quality standards, and destination-market requirements. See our Bayannur production profile for the regional infrastructure behind these export numbers.

Is China's Confectionery Export Growth Likely to Continue?

That said, any single year's figures can be affected by weather-driven yield variability or short-term trade-policy shifts, so a buyer building a long-term sourcing strategy should track current-year data rather than assuming the multi-year trend applies unchanged to any specific upcoming season.

What Do the Annual Totals Show?

On China's own reports, HS 1206 exports were 480 thousand tonnes in 2024, worth $819 million, an average declared value of $1,706 per tonne (UN Comtrade). Our guide to China's exports from 2019 to 2024 gives the full series and the year-by-year changes.

The figures cover all sunflower seed, so they include seed crushed for oil as well as the in-shell confection seed we export.

What Are the Limits of This Guide?

The figures are customs data for all sunflower seed under HS 1206 and cannot separate confection seed from oilseed. They show the scale of trade and not the price of any one grade.

Source From an Established Export Region

Product details are on our products page, and the full buying process is in our bulk sunflower seeds buyer's guide.