Sesame oil market continues to see positive growth globally

©ALFREDO COSENTINO via 123RF

Tanzania (42% of total consumption) remains the largest sesame oil consumer worldwide. It was followed by Myanmar (17%), China (12%), Mozambique (5%), India (5%), Japan (2%), Sudan (2%) and Turkey (2%). The other countries together accounted for approx. 14% of global consumption.

Amongst the leading consuming countries, high levels of per capita consumption were recorded in Tanzania (15 kg per person), Myanmar (5.9 kg per person), Mozambique (3.4 kg per person), which were significantly higher than the world average of 0.3 kg per person. China (0.2 kg per person) and India (0.1 kg per person) had the lowest volumes of sesame oil consumption.

Sesame oil consumption expected to reach 2.7m tonnes by 2025

Sesame oil is used for a variety of commercial and industrial purposes besides food: as the base for common household goods such as soaps, cosmetics, toiletries, candles, paints, and even biodiesel fuels.

Sesame is popular among African farmers, due to the fact that, unlike other crops, it is well adapted to the arid climate. Tanzania remains the largest producer of sesame oil and also dominates the global consumption of this product. High consumption was noted among other major producers of sesame oil from the countries of Africa and Asia. The African and Asian regions constitute the fastest developing sesame oil markets, as a result of rising household income figures and urbanisation, as well as an increase in the use of sesame oil for food products and Asian dishes.

The growing popularity of healthy eating, as well as oil use for cooking worldwide, should also support sesame oil consumption over the next nine years. Market performance is predicted to grow with an anticipated CAGR of +3.8% for the next nine-year period.

Sesame oil production expansion

Global production of sesame oil reached almost 1.9b tonnes in 2016, increasing tangibly over the last four years. Prior to that, it remained relatively stable from 2007 to 2012, experiencing strong growth due to the sesame industry expansion in Tanzania.

Over the period under review, global sesame oil production attained its maximum volume in 2016 and is likely to continue its growth in the immediate term.

Tanzania emerges fastest growing sesame oil exporter

In 2016, the volume of global exports totalled 58k tonnes, retaining the level of the previous year. This level was also 9.3k tonnes (or 14%) less than the highest level of 2014. The volume of exports has increased significantly over the period from 2013-2014, slipping in 2015 by 15%, and retaining this level in the following year.

Mexico (16% of total exports), India (14%), Japan (12%), Taiwan, Chinese (8%), Tanzania (8%), China (8%), Singapore (7%) constituted the main global suppliers of sesame oils. From 2007 to 2016, exports from Tanzania (+41.3%) increased robustly. The other countries with high paces of growth with regard to exports were India (+7.7% per year) and Singapore (+6.6% per year).

The U.S. remains the leading importer

In 2016, the U.S. (16.1k tonnes) was the major exporter of sesame oil, with a share of 25% of total imports. It was followed by China (10%), the UK (6%), Australia (5%), Taiwan, Chinese (5%), Japan (4%), Hong Kong, Chinese (4%), and Singapore (4%).

Amongst the major importing countries, China (+15.3% per year), Taiwan, Chinese (+12.6%), Singapore (+8.5%) and Australia (+5.4%) were the fastest growing over the last nine years. The U.S. (+3.6%) and the UK (+2.0%) experienced more modest paces o growth; the other main importers had negative dynamics.

From 2007 to 2016, China (+6 percentage points), and Taiwan, Chinese (+3 percentage points) saw their shares increased in the import structure, the shares of the other countries remained relatively stable throughout the analysed period.