Sesame Seed

• Uses: Sesame seed is widely used in bakery, confectionery and in production of tahini and halwa.
• Producers: Asian and African countries are the major producers and exporters of sesame seed.
• Humera type: Ethiopia, one of the biggest exporter from African region, exports mainly Humera sesame seed.
• Importers: China, Japan, Turkey, South Korea, U.S., Europe and Middle east countries are major buyers.
• Futures: There is no futures platform for this commodity in India.

There are mainly three types of sesame seeds produced in India - white, black and brown. Natural white sesame seed is the most traded and used for crushing and direct consumption. It has its various uses in bakery, confectionery, sesame products like tahini and many other food items. Indian sub-continent mainly crushes it to produce unrefined and filtered oil while East and Southeast asian countries consume toasted oil. In Middle East it is mainly used in the production of tahini (halwa). Brown seeds are also used for oil extraction purpose whereas black sesame seeds are for medicinal purpose as they are known to have many health benefits. When the seeds are crushed to produce oil, its by-product sesame extraction is also produced. Sesame seed extraction / meal is a high protein ( 45-47%) feed meal being used as a valuable ingredient in poultry feed. Hulled sesame seeds which are widely used in bakery and confectionery industry are derived by removing the outer skin of natural seeds through the process called hulling. It has two types depending upon its drying process - Autodried and Sundried. Developed countries prefer auto while developing nations buy sundried which is more reasonable.

India's main export is of mainly below type:
Natural White Sesame Seed: 99/1/99.90%., 99/1/1, 98/2/2, 95/5/2
Hulled Sesame Seed: AutoHulled and Sundriedhulled - 99.5%-99.98%.

China, Taiwan, Korea, U.S., Europe, Middle East and Australia are the major destinations for Indian sesame seeds. Russia is a big buyer of Sundried hulled variety. In the year 2007-08, India exported sesame of value more than ninty million dollars to various countries with China being the biggest buyer.

The prices of sesame seeds are highly volatile and can swing to great extent in a day. The information regarding its crop size in different parts of the world is not easily available and thats why the crop estimates keep on changing. This information gap gives opportunities to big stockists to dictate the sesame movement to their advantage. Also there is no futures platform for sesame seed in India, so exporters and traders cannot hedge their price risk and are prone to the sudden fluctuations.