On June 5, the Fifth International Oil and Fat Conference "FOC 2026: Fats and Oils Conference" will take place in Astana. The organizer is the National Association of Oilseed Processors (NAOP) with support from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and QazTrade Center for Trade Policy Development JSC. Over 330 delegates are expected, including heads of more than 50 domestic oil mills, representatives of relevant ministries, financial institutions, agricultural holdings, logistics companies, analytical agencies, importers, and equipment suppliers. The participant geography covers 18 countries, including the USA, China, European states, the Baltic states, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
By the end of 2025, production and export of oil and fat products in Kazakhstan reached historical highs: production volume exceeded 1.57 million tons, and export revenue amounted to $963 million USD (four times more than in 2021 — $240 million). The industry provided 27% of the export revenue from the country's processed agricultural products. Sunflower oil production in 2025 increased 2.3 times compared to 2021, exceeding 752,000 tons. The average share of sunflower oil imports in the domestic market for 2022–2025 decreased to 18% (in 2015–2021 — about 39%).
Kazakhstan's oil and fat products are supplied to more than 20 countries, including China, Central Asian states, the EU (Germany, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Baltic countries), Afghanistan, and Iran. By the end of 2025, Kazakhstan ranked 6th in the world for sunflower oil exports and 2nd in the Chinese market, leads in vegetable oil supplies to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (share over 90%), fully meets Central Asia's demand for sunflower meal, and is among the top 3 suppliers of sunflower meal to the EU. NAOP has developed a Roadmap for Export Development for 2026–2028 with technical assistance from the International Trade Centre (ITC) and support from QazTrade under the EU-funded "Ready4Trade Central Asia" project. Implementation of the roadmap envisions a 60% increase in export revenue to $1.5 billion by 2028, which will allow Kazakhstan to enter the top four global suppliers of sunflower oil, with the goal of reaching the top three.