Japanese and South Korean food manufacturers have aggressively scaled sesame procurement from India through Q1 and into April 2026, taking combined volume from the historical 18,000–20,000 MT/quarter range to 28,400 MT in April alone. The reorientation reflects deteriorating reliability of Sudanese and Ethiopian supply — both origins have faced shipping disruptions through the Red Sea and Bab-el-Mandeb chokepoint — and a structural quality preference for Indian-origin hulled 99.95% sesame in premium tahini, sesame-oil, and confectionery applications.
FOB Tuticorin for export-grade hulled sesame closed April at $1,610/MT, a five-year high and 22% above the trailing 24-month average. Whitish (natural) sesame for oil-extraction grades climbed to $1,485/MT, also a multi-year peak. Total Indian sesame exports for FY 2025–26 are projected at 3.85 lakh tonnes valued at ₹6,200 crore — up from ₹4,800 crore the previous year.
Market Overview
India and Sudan have historically been the world’s two largest sesame exporters, with Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania rounding out the top five. Sudan’s exportable surplus has been compressed since mid-2023 by the civil-conflict-driven disruption to Port Sudan loadings; combined with insurance premium escalations through the Red Sea corridor, that has effectively redirected Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and even some EU buyers toward Indian and Tanzanian origins.
India’s structural advantage on Japan/Korea is twofold. First, India’s 99.95% hulled grade — produced primarily in Gujarat (Rajkot, Junagadh) and Madhya Pradesh — matches Japanese tahini and Korean sesame-oil specifications with minimal need for reprocessing at destination. Second, INSPA (Indian Sesame Producers and Exporters Association) members hold ISO 22000:2018, HACCP and pesticide-residue compliance protocols that match Japanese MAFF requirements and Korean MFDS standards.
Demand Drivers: Japan and Korea
Japan absorbed 16,800 MT of Indian sesame in April 2026 alone — 23% of total Indian sesame exports for the month. Korean buyers added 11,600 MT. Combined, the two markets are now equivalent to about 38% of India’s monthly sesame export volume, up from 22% in the same month last year.
Japanese demand is biased toward hulled 99.95% material for branded tahini (e.g., Wadaman, Kuki Sangyo) and high-temperature roasting applications. Korean buyers favour both hulled and natural-whitish, with the latter going into sesame-oil extraction units in Daegu and Gimhae. Both buyer pools are running 90–120 day forward-cover positions, the longest forward exposure they have carried in over a decade.
Forward-contract premiums are widening. April-loading hulled 99.95% has traded $1,580–1,640/MT FOB Tuticorin; Q3 forward bookings have cleared at $1,720–1,760/MT — buyers are essentially pre-paying for supply security through the new-crop window.
FOB Price Analysis
Hulled 99.95% sesame FOB Tuticorin has appreciated $295/MT over the past 12 months, a 22.4% YoY gain. Natural whitish (oil-grade) is up $215/MT (16.9%). Black sesame — a smaller-volume premium product — has surged $410/MT (28%) on accelerated procurement by Korean and Vietnamese buyers for ceremonial and confectionery applications.
The premium between Indian and Sudanese-origin hulled sesame has narrowed from the historical $120–150/MT discount to less than $40/MT — meaning Indian-origin material is now nearly at parity even when Sudanese loading is available. For consistent-quality buyers, that essentially eliminates the price-arbitrage incentive to wait for African origins to normalise.
Sourcing Outlook
India’s exportable surplus for sesame is finite — domestic edible-oil consumption absorbs roughly 35% of annual production, and the export-grade fraction depends on monsoon quality and the Gujarat-MP harvest dynamics in October. RNG’s procurement desk projects FY 2026–27 export-available volume at 3.95–4.10 lakh tonnes, suggesting that aggregate supply will not expand sharply enough to meet the demand pull from Japan/Korea + the residual EU/US buyer cohort.
Forward-pricing is therefore likely to remain firm through Q3 2026, with potential softening only if (a) Sudanese export normalisation accelerates and (b) Indian monsoon delivery is significantly above-normal. Buyers should pre-book at least 60% of annual requirement for hulled 99.95% by end-May to avoid Q4 allocation risk. Branded Japanese and Korean accounts are already filing six-month rolling forward covers — bulk-spot buyers will find the residual market progressively tighter.
- April Japan + Korea sesame procurement hit 28,400 MT — up 41% YoY.
- FOB Tuticorin hulled 99.95% at $1,610/MT — a five-year high.
- Indian-Sudanese price gap narrowed from $150/MT to under $40/MT — origin arbitrage gone.
- FY 2025–26 sesame export value projected at ₹6,200 crore vs ₹4,800 crore last year.
| Grade | FOB Tuticorin ($/MT) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Hulled Sesame 99.95% | $1,610 | +22.4% |
| Natural Whitish (Oil Grade) | $1,485 | +16.9% |
| Black Sesame | $1,870 | +28.1% |
| Q3 2026 Forward (Hulled) | $1,745 | — |
Japanese and Korean buyers are filing six-month rolling forward covers — the longest forward exposure in over a decade. Spot supply will progressively tighten through Q3 2026.
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