Markets · India
Destination market
Nigerian sesame,
for India's
hulling belt.
India is one of the three largest markets for Nigerian sesame, and it buys for a reason none of the others share. It does not consume the seed so much as reprocess it. That changes the grade you should be quoted, and most exporters quote the wrong one.
~60%
Of Nigeria's sesame exports go to China, Japan and India
~18%
Of India's sesame imports come from Nigeria
26 MT
Per 40ft FCL, the unit this trade runs on
48 hrs
Enquiry to formal quotation, on Indian business hours
Who buys
The Gujarat hulling belt.
India is, in the same years, the world's leading sesame exporter and a major sesame importer. Both are true because a large part of what it imports is never eaten there. It is cleaned, hulled and shipped onward as a finished product.
The capacity that does this sits overwhelmingly in Gujarat, and within Gujarat in the Rajkot region, with hulling and cleaning units clustered around Rajkot itself and towns such as Gondal and Dhoraji. Imported seed lands where the machines are, not where the consumers are, which is why the trade routes through Mundra, Kandla and Pipavav rather than the container ports nearer the big domestic markets.
A huller is buying a yield calculation, not an appearance. Three things drive their offer: whiteness and uniformity of the seed coat, because hulled output is graded on how bright and even it comes out; seed size and plumpness, because small or shrivelled seed loses disproportionately through hulling; and purity, because every stone, stalk and dust fraction is weight they paid for and cannot sell.
Nothing on that list is served by a colour-sorted grade. That is the mistake most exporters make on this route.
The screened ladder
98 and 99 are the grades that matter here.
Purity is a function of how many times the seed is screened, not of how good the exporter claims to be. Everything up to 99% is reached by screening and gravity separation. Above 99% needs optical colour sorting, which is a different product for a different buyer.
| Preparation | Purity | Who buys it |
|---|---|---|
| Farm gate, as received | 95 to 97% | Not an export grade. The starting point |
| Single screened | 97 to 98% | Crushing and low-end processing |
| Double screened, gravity separated | 98 to 99% | Indian hullers, oil crushers, buyers who re-clean |
| Sortex, colour sorted | 99.5 to 99.95% | Buyers whose seed is visible in the finished product |
| Hulled | Coat removed | Bakery, confectionery, seasoning |
There is no commercial reason to sell a huller a 99.95% sortex grade. They are about to remove the seed coat and colour-sort the result themselves, so the sorting is paid for twice and sold once. The useful quotation into India is natural white at 98% with 2% admixture, or 99% with 1%, priced against oil content and whiteness. Natural white specification
Duty and documents
Why 30% duty does not stop the trade.
Sesame seed enters India under HS 12074090 at a basic customs duty of 30%. On a duty-paid basis that makes imported seed uncompetitive against the domestic Gujarat crop for most purposes.
The trade works because most of this seed was never meant for the Indian market. India's Advance Authorisation scheme permits duty-free import of inputs physically incorporated into an export product, against an export obligation set by Standard Input Output Norms. A huller importing Nigerian seed to hull and re-export is doing exactly what the scheme was written for.
Two things follow for the exporter. Your counterparty is often working to an export obligation with a deadline attached, so shipment timing is commercial rather than a courtesy. And documentation matters more than usual, because the certificate of origin and the certificate of analysis travel into a duty-exemption file that will be audited. Our document set
Logistics
A 40ft trade, from Lagos to Gujarat.
Indian hulling programmes are bought in volume, and at volume the 40ft container is the right unit. Natural white loads at 19 MT per 20ft FCL and 26 MT per 40ft, so a 100 MT programme is four 40ft containers against five 20ft, on fewer bills of lading and with fewer terminal handlings at each end.
The two sizes are limited by different things, which is why the larger is not double the smaller. Bagged sesame stows at roughly 1.7 to 1.8 m³ per tonne, so a 20ft fills its 33 m³ of cube while still under its 28 MT payload rating. A 40ft has 68 m³, enough for close to 37 MT, so it reaches the ISO payload ceiling of about 26.7 MT first. A 20ft cubes out; a 40ft weighs out. Confirm the destination road weight limit before the packing list is fixed. Container loading calculator
Why our desk sits in India
Same time zone as the hullers.
AgroMax runs origin operations in Nigeria and its trade desk in India. On this route that is less a convenience than the point: contracts, documentation and the buyer relationship sit on Indian business hours, while the seed is being bought at the farm gate in Nasarawa, Benue and Taraba. Quotations go out within 48 hours.
Frequently asked
Does India import sesame seeds from Nigeria?
Yes, and at scale. China, Japan and India together take roughly 60% of Nigeria's sesame exports by value. From the Indian side, Brazil, Nigeria and Sudan supply about 80% of India's sesame imports, with Nigeria at roughly 18%.
Why does India import sesame when it is the world's largest exporter?
Because a large share of what India imports is not consumed there. It is cleaned, hulled and re-exported as a higher-value product. India's hulling capacity, concentrated in Gujarat, runs on more seed than the domestic crop supplies, so imported raw seed becomes feedstock for finished exports.
What sesame specification do Indian hullers buy?
Natural white, screened to 98% purity with 2% admixture, or 99% with 1%, selected on whiteness, seed size and oil content. They rarely buy sortex-finished grades, because they will colour-sort the hulled output themselves and would be paying twice for the same step.
What is the import duty on sesame seeds in India?
Sesame seed enters India under HS 12074090 at a basic customs duty of 30%. Processors importing seed to hull and re-export commonly work under the Advance Authorisation scheme, which permits duty-free import of inputs physically incorporated into an export product against a matching export obligation.
Which Indian ports receive Nigerian sesame?
Mainly Mundra and Kandla in Gujarat, with Pipavav also in use, because the hulling capacity that consumes the seed sits in the same state. We quote FOB Lagos or CFR/CIF to any of them.
What container size should an Indian buyer use?
40ft. Natural white loads at 26 MT per 40ft FCL against 19 MT per 20ft, so a 100 MT programme is four containers rather than five, on fewer bills of lading. A 20ft runs out of cube before payload; a 40ft has cube for close to 37 MT and stops instead at the ISO payload ceiling of about 26.7 MT.
Longer read: Selling Nigerian sesame into India
Sourcing sesame for the 2026/27 season?
New-crop arrivals begin in late November. Forward bookings open from August. Send us your specification and destination, and you will have a formal quotation within 48 hours.