Over the past decade, global consumption of vegetable oils has increased by 31%, reaching 222.6 million tons in the 2024/25 marketing year, while meal and oilcake consumption has risen by 30% to 376.4 million tons. This growth has been driven by population increase, the development of poultry and livestock farming, and the active use of biofuels.
Kazakhstan possesses the fundamental resources needed to develop the oil and fat sector: more than 24 million hectares of arable land and favorable natural and climatic conditions. In 2025, the sown area of oilseed crops exceeded 4.135 million hectares, accounting for 17% of the crop rotation structure, compared with 13% a year earlier. The annual increase amounted to 36%, or 1.094 million hectares.
Sunflower is the most popular crop, accounting for 43% of the total oilseed acreage. Over the past four years, its cultivated area has grown by 85%. Given the scientifically justified crop rotation norm of 17%, there is substantial potential to expand production to more than 4 million hectares.
As of 2025, more than 59% of sunflower crops are concentrated in the eastern region of the country — Pavlodar, Abai, and East Kazakhstan Regions — totaling slightly more than 1 million hectares. This makes the region attractive for the construction of processing facilities. A key locational advantage is the short logistics shoulder to an additional source of raw material in a neighboring country: the region borders Russia’s Altai Krai, where the sown area under oilseeds exceeds 2 million hectares, and it also has access to China, the largest market for oil and fat products.
These factors became decisive in the investment of more than 64 billion tenge in the construction of Altyn Shyghys LLP’s oilseed processing plant in East Kazakhstan Region, the largest in Central Asia. The creation of the enterprise responded to the objective need to establish local centers for deep processing of agricultural raw materials, thereby providing farmers with a stable sales channel while reducing the share of raw material exports.
Altyn Shyghys is a cluster that covers the entire value chain, from the field to the finished product. The oil mill works closely with agricultural producers, annually financing their spring fieldwork and harvesting operations. The amount allocated in 2024 and 2025 totaled 16.3 billion tenge, ensuring a steady supply of seeds and support for farmers. Its own grain elevator capacity, with simultaneous storage capacity of 170,000 tons, makes it possible not only to receive and store oilseeds consistently, but also to optimize logistics and reduce losses.
At the first stage, a project for the primary processing of oilseed raw material with a capacity of 450,000 tons per year was completed. The plant’s technological equipment includes modern, highly automated machinery from leading global manufacturers in Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey. The use of such technologies ensures consistent product quality, a high level of industrial safety, and the company’s competitiveness.
The plant has already launched production of the high-value-added product liquid sunflower lecithin, with a design capacity of 4,000 tons per year. This enables the most efficient use of raw materials, expansion of the product line, and creation of additional value added. Lecithin is widely used in the food industry as an emulsifier in the production of chocolate, confectionery and bakery products, margarine, and sauces. In addition, the product is used in the pharmaceutical and feed industries, further expanding its sales potential across various markets.
This year, the company plans to launch vegetable oil refining and bottling with a capacity of 165,000 tons per year, which will be the largest in Central Asia. At the national level, this will help reduce import dependence, strengthen food security, and stabilize prices for the socially important food product sunflower oil. At the same time, a presence in export markets with high-value-added products will significantly increase foreign exchange earnings for the republic.
Social responsibility and quality standards
Altyn Shyghys’s social responsibility includes providing permanent jobs for 400 employees, and the headcount will increase after the refining operation is launched. As a systemically important enterprise in Glubokoye District of East Kazakhstan Region, it plays an important role in the region’s socioeconomic development. The company has built long-term cooperation with related industries, and its steady supply of high-protein sunflower meal and sunflower oil supports the development and resilience of domestic poultry farms and processors.
In addition, as a member of the National Association of Oilseed Processors of Kazakhstan, the company complies with the terms of the domestic price stabilization memorandum signed with the Ministry of Trade and Integration and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The operations of Altyn Shyghys LLP are based on the principles of compliance with international standards of quality, safety, and environmental responsibility. The company is consistently implementing modern quality management systems aimed at improving the sustainability of production processes, minimizing risks, and complying with the requirements of national and international legislation. ISO 9001, ISO 22000, and HACCP systems have been implemented.
Export markets, investments made, and future plans
Kazakhstani oil and fat products are in high demand on the global market. According to estimates by the National Association of Oilseed Processors of Kazakhstan, imports of vegetable oils and meal/oilcake in countries where Kazakhstani products are competitive amount to about 43 million tons per year, which is 32 times Kazakhstan’s current export volume.
Altyn Shyghys is actively working to expand export shipments. In 2025, export volume increased by 65% to 291,400 tons. Based on its 2024 and 2025 results, the oil mill was named among Kazakhstan’s top exporters of processed agro-industrial products and received an award from the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The plant’s main sales markets are China, European Union countries — Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland, and the Czech Republic — and Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, new international markets are constantly being explored and new export niches are emerging. In the past two to three years, the company has significantly increased exports not only of sunflower meal, but also of pelletized sunflower husk to European Union countries, where it is used as environmentally friendly fuel. The breadth of the product line and the diversification of sales markets make it possible to mitigate the risks of price dumping for finished products and to purchase sunflower seeds on the domestic market at higher prices.
The plant’s integrated approach has been built with the strategic objectives set by the Head of State in mind, including increasing the share of deep processing, reducing food imports, boosting exports of processed products, and lowering inflation. The development model applied by Altyn Shyghys is a clear example of the strategic, gradual, and manageable development of a major processing enterprise. The plant’s priorities include national interests, social responsibility, stronger cooperation with farming enterprises, and ensuring domestic market stability.
The state policy chosen, supported by existing capabilities and aligned with global trends in the growing consumption of oil and fat products, serves as the key guideline for further investment. The results speak for themselves: Kazakhstan is among the world’s top ten exporters of sunflower oil and among the top three suppliers of sunflower meal to the European Union, while fully supplying Central Asian countries with this high-protein feed.
Kazakhstan’s oil and fat industry aims to enter the top three global exporters of sunflower oil, and the work of the Altyn Shyghys oil mill, as one of the key links in the production chain, plays an especially important role in achieving this goal
