Castor Oil Export Data 2026: Top Buyers, Prices, HS 151530

India shipped 309,376 tonnes of castor oil between January and May 2025 — up 15.76% on the same months a year earlier, with May alone jumping 20.6% (Kedia Advisory). The last full calendar year in the UN trade series counted $1.009 billion and 629,846 tonnes, half of it bound for one country: China (World Bank WITS). Behind those totals sits the useful layer — castor oil export data that names the actual importers in Zhangjiagang, Rotterdam and New Jersey, shipment by shipment. India controls this trade like no other: somewhere between 85% and 92% of world castor oil supply, depending on whose measure you take (Kedia, ExportImportData).

A near-monopoly sounds comfortable. It isn't. Over 1,150 Indian exporters fight for the same 4,156 overseas buyers, and most of them quote through the same Kandla brokers. The ones growing fastest read the buyer list first and quote direct. Here's what the numbers say.

What does the latest castor oil export data show?

Volume is climbing off an already dominant base. The 309,376 tonnes shipped in January–May 2025 compares with 267,234 tonnes a year earlier, and May's 63,873 tonnes was one of the strongest single months on record (Kedia Advisory). Calendar 2023 closed at 629,846 tonnes worth $1.009 billion (WITS).

The shape of the trade matters as much as its size. In the twelve months to February 2024, that billion dollars moved in 12,347 cargoes from 1,153 Indian exporters to 4,156 overseas buyers, and more than 60% of everything India crushes gets exported (ExportImportData). That's a thin, deep market: a handful of very large Chinese and European importers anchor it, and a long tail of specialty-chemical buyers pay the premiums. The castor oil export data tells you which is which before you spend a rupee on sampling.

Which country imports the most castor oil from India?

China imports the most Indian castor oil — $501.8 million and 320,393 tonnes in 2023, about 50% of India's exports by value — followed by the Netherlands ($120.5M) and the United States ($96.6M), per World Bank WITS. The full top eight by value:

1. China: $501.8 million (320,393 t)
2. Netherlands: $120.5 million (75,894 t)
3. United States: $96.6 million (58,082 t)
4. France: $74.9 million (47,255 t)
5. Japan: $26.8 million (16,866 t)
6. Thailand: $25.6 million (16,524 t)
7. South Korea: $17.4 million (10,286 t)
8. Singapore: $15.4 million (9,114 t)

Each lane behaves differently. China buys commercial-grade crude in bulk parcels for its own derivatives industry — its sebacic acid plants run on Indian oil. The Netherlands is Europe's tank-farm door: Rotterdam volumes get redistributed to German and French chemical works. The US and Japan skew toward first-special-grade and pharmaceutical lots, smaller tonnage at better unit prices. A buyer list that mixes these up wastes months — the Chinese trader wants your Kandla FOB number today, while a Japanese specialty buyer starts with a spec sheet and a plant audit.

Half of India's castor oil sails to one country. The other half pays better — the EU, US and Japanese buyers behind it are named in the shipment records, lane by lane.

Castor oil HS code: 151530

Castor oil and its fractions ship under HS 151530. India's 8-digit ITC-HS schedule splits it into 15153010 for edible-grade oil and 15153090 for everything else — and 15153090 carries the bulk of the trade, since most castor oil is industrial feedstock, not food (ExportImportData). Hydrogenated castor oil moves separately under heading 1516, and derivatives like sebacic acid sit in chapter 29 — so a search on 151530 alone understates the real castor economy. If the code system is new to you, start with our guide to what an HS code is and how to use it, then run 151530 and the derivative codes side by side.

Why the world's castor supply starts in Gujarat

Castor is a hard crop to displace: it wants arid heat, tolerates poor soil, and India's yields are far ahead of any rival origin. The Solvent Extractors' Association's 2025-26 survey puts the national crop at 17.16 lakh tonnes of seed from 8.90 lakh hectares — up 7.9% on 2024-25 — with Gujarat alone growing 13.25 lakh tonnes, or 77% of the total, at yields of 2,090 kg/ha (SEA crop survey):

The belt runs through Banaskantha, Mehsana, Patan and Kutch, feeding crushers around Deesa and Kadi, and the oil exits almost entirely through Kandla. Global buyers know how concentrated this is — Gujarat produces about 80% of the world's castor beans, which is why Arkema co-founded the Pragati sustainable-castor programme there, certifying farmers to secure the feedstock behind its bio-polymers (American Chemistry Council). One district's monsoon can move a global polymer supply chain.

The derivatives angle: where the margin hides

Crude castor oil is a volume game; derivatives are the margin game. The global castor oil derivatives market stands at $1.69 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach $2.88 billion by 2034 (Fortune Business Insights). Sebacic acid — the nylon-6,10 building block China refines from Indian oil — is the single biggest slice at 37.9% of derivatives revenue (Grand View Research). Then come 12-hydroxystearic acid for greases, hydrogenated castor oil for cosmetics, and undecylenic acid — the monomer behind Arkema's Rilsan polyamide-11, a high-performance polymer of 100% renewable castor origin used in EV fuel lines and 3D printing (Arkema).

For an Indian exporter the implication is direct: every step up from crude — FSG, hydrogenated, 12-HSA — swaps a Chinese bulk trader for a European or Japanese specialty buyer and a better unit price. Those buyers are a different importer set entirely, and they show up under different HS codes in the shipment records. Rajasthan's guar industry ran the same playbook against US fracking demand — the pattern is in our guar gum export data guide.

Castor oil price in 2026

The benchmark everyone quotes against is the NCDEX Kandla spot: ₹1,410.55 per 10 kg at end-June 2026 — roughly ₹1.41 lakh per tonne for commercial castor oil (CEIC/NCDEX). Upstream, castor seed at Deesa traded near ₹7,090 per quintal the same week (CEIC), and the NCDEX castor seed futures contract — Deesa basis — is where crushers and exporters hedge.

Every castor quote in the world starts from one number: Kandla spot. FSG premium, pharma premium, freight — the rest is arithmetic and negotiation.

In practice an exporter builds the offer as Kandla spot plus a grade premium — first special grade above commercial, BSS and pharmaceutical grades above that — plus drumming or flexitank cost. Buyers in China negotiate hardest against the spot because they can see it too; specialty buyers care more about grade consistency than the last dollar per tonne. Know which conversation you're walking into before you quote.

How ShipScout turns castor oil export data into buyers

ShipScout is a global trade-intelligence platform — 11 billion-plus shipment records across 240+ countries, built as an affordable alternative to Panjiva and ImportGenius. It helps Indian exporters find and vet buyers with data-backed targeting, working from mirrored licensed trade data for India-linked trade. The castor workflow:

• Search HS 151530. Pull global shipments and see which importers receive castor oil monthly, in what parcel sizes. Start in the company directory.
• Segment by lane. Rank Chinese buyers by tonnage for bulk crude; filter EU, US and Japanese importers for FSG and derivative-grade enquiries.
• Vet before you ship. A buyer's real shipment history beats a reference letter — here's how to verify an international partner before paying.
• Reach the right desk. Contact intelligence (where available) gets past the info@ inbox; the wider playbook is in finding buyers for export from India.

One habit that converts: pull a target importer's last quarter of castor receipts and open your email with the specifics — grade, tonnage, month, current supplier's origin port. A buyer who realises you can see their purchasing reads the second paragraph. India already owns the supply; the buyer list is already written. Start a free trial and search HS 151530 to read it.