MOQ tiers
| Tier | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | 5 MT LCL | — |
| Standard FCL | 1 × 20'FCL ≈ 24 MT | — |
| Programme | 20–100 × 20'FCL / year | — |
Sesame Seeds Exporter & Wholesale Supplier — 35+ Origins, 80+ Destinations
Kehkashan exports sesame (Sesamum indicum) seeds from origin partners in Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, India, and Pakistan — supplied in bulk FCL or LCL with FOB Jebel Ali, CFR, or CIF terms to tahini, bakery, and oil-extraction buyers across 80+ destinations.
- 35+ origins
- 80+ destinations
- ISTA / OECD certified
- LC at sight (USD/EUR)
Reference image. Sample lots and product-specific photography available on RFQ.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Sesamum indicum
- Also known as
- Til, السمسم, кунжут, gergelim, ajonjolí
- HS code
- 1207.40
- Common varieties
- Hulled white 99.95%, Natural white 99%, Black sesame, 99/1 Sortex
- Origins available
- India, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Uganda, DR Congo, Angola, Kenya, Iran, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Mexico, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Russia, Argentina, Peru, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan
- MOQ
- 1 × 20'FCL
- Pack sizes
- 25 kg PP bag, 50 kg jute bag, 1 MT FIBC
- Specs
- Sortex: 99 / 99.5 / 99.95%, Moisture: < 6%, FFA: < 2%, Admixture: < 0.5%
- Lead time
- 14–21 days from PO confirmation
- Incoterms
- FOB Jebel Ali · CFR · CIF · DAP
- Payment terms
- LC at sight · TT · DP
Specification & container math
FOB pricing bands (RFQ)
| Grade | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Sortex 99% white (commercial bakery) | RFQ — entry tier |
| Sortex 99.5% white (premium tahini) | RFQ — mid tier |
| Sortex 99.95% AA (Japan / Korea premium) | RFQ — top tier |
| Hulled (oil-extraction grade) | RFQ — variable |
Lead times — top destinations
| Discharge port | Transit | Incoterm |
|---|---|---|
| Karachi / Mundra (FOB) | 0 days | FOB |
| Jebel Ali (UAE) | 4–6 days | CFR / CIF |
| Mersin (Türkiye) | 14–18 days | CFR / CIF |
| Yokohama (Japan) | 28–35 days | CFR / CIF |
| Hamburg (Germany) | 21–28 days | CFR / CIF |
- Packaging formats
- 25 kg PP bag · 50 kg jute bag · 1 MT FIBC
- Container capacity
- 20'FCL: 24 MT (PP) · 22 MT (FIBC)
Documentation set per shipment
Every container leaves UAE Free Zone with the document pack below. Additional certificates (Halal, SASO conformity, BRC, organic, FairWild, etc.) are added on request before vessel loading.
- Bill of Lading (BL) — original 3/3 set
- Commercial Invoice — UAE Free Zone issued
- Packing List with lot codes
- Certificate of Origin (CoO) — Dubai Chamber attested
- Phytosanitary Certificate — origin NPPO
- SGS / Bureau Veritas weight + quality report
- Oil-content + FFA + moisture analysis (origin lab)
- GMO / Non-GMO declaration
- Fumigation Certificate
- Form A (GSP) where applicable
Humera, Gedaref, Multan, Saurashtra sesame origins and who buys each
Ethiopian Humera lots go to tahini mills in Israel, Lebanon and Türkiye and to Japanese bakery importers paying for bright white seed. Sudanese Gedaref and Pakistani Multan sesame supplies GCC tahini and halva plants out of Jeddah and Jebel Ali. Indian Saurashtra white and Madhya Pradesh black serve oil crushers and Korean roasted-oil buyers.
Hulled 99.95, natural 99 and black sesame grades decoded
Hulled white 99.95 percent is the Sortex AA kernel for Japanese and Korean bun toppings and tahini. Natural white 99 percent is mechanically cleaned seed for bakery and oil extraction. The 99/1 Sortex code means 99 percent white with 1 percent tolerated off-colour, a pastry grade. Black sesame serves roasted-oil and traditional-medicine buyers.
Sesame COA fields: oil content, FFA, moisture, admixture, aflatoxin, Salmonella
A sesame COA declares colour, origin, hulled or natural, Sortex grade, oil content by Soxhlet at 48 to 55 percent, FFA below 2 percent, moisture below 6 percent and admixture below 0.5 percent. Aflatoxin B1 and total in ppb, heavy metals and Salmonella absent in 25 grams follow for EU, Japanese and US lots.
Sesame buyers by industry: tahini mills, bakeries, oil crushers, confectioners
Tahini and halva mills across Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Türkiye run 1,000 to 20,000 tonne annual programmes of hulled high-Sortex white. EU and US bun and bagel bakeries take natural or hulled 99 to 99.5 percent in 500 to 5,000 tonne programmes. Oil crushers accept mixed-colour lots on oil content.
Sesame transit days from Jebel Ali to Jeddah, Mersin, Hamburg, Yokohama
Pakistani sesame sails Karachi to Jebel Ali in 4 to 6 days; Mundra lots take the same. From Jebel Ali, Jeddah is 5 to 8 days, Hamad 3 to 5, Mersin 12 to 16, Hamburg 21 to 28, Yokohama 24 to 30 and New York 28 to 35. Long-haul bookings specify humidity-controlled stowage.
Sesame FOB, CFR and CIF pricing: what drives the Sortex premium
We quote FOB Karachi, Mundra or Jebel Ali plus CFR and CIF destination against RFQ. Origin sets the base, Humera highest, Indian bulk lowest. Each Sortex step from 99 to 99.5 to 99.95 percent adds a margin, hulling adds yield loss, and Sudanese supply volatility since 2023 moves the whole curve.
Sesame QA sequence: pre-loading lab, sample sign-off, supervised stuffing
Origin lots are tested for Salmonella, aflatoxin and moisture before offer. A 1 to 2 kilogram sample ships with a draft COA so the tahini mill can run its own Sortex count and oil assay. Signed approval opens the proforma against LC at sight or TT. Stuffing runs under our supervisor with SGS reporting.
Sesame container math: 24 MT per 20-foot FCL, 40-foot HC, LCL
Sesame is dense, so weight limits bind before volume. A 20-foot FCL carries 24 metric tonnes in 25 kilogram PP bags or 50 kilogram jute, and 22 tonnes in 1 tonne FIBCs. A 40-foot high-cube is capped near 26 to 27 tonnes by road-weight rules. LCL trials start at 5 tonnes via Jebel Ali.
HS 1207.40 sesame import documentation for EU, Japan and Saudi Arabia
EU entries under HS 1207.40 carry a CHED-D on TRACES, Salmonella-negative certificate, aflatoxin within EC 1881/2006, fumigation certificate and Form A where eligible. Japan applies MHLW monitoring for aflatoxin and residues, so 99.95 percent lots ship with the full panel. Saudi SFDA clearance needs the origin phytosanitary certificate and attested invoice; Halal on request.
Procurement-team questions
Answers to the questions buyers ask us most often during RFQ and trial-shipment evaluation.
- What is the difference between Sortex 99, 99.5, and 99.95%?
- Sortex grade is the optical-sorting purity benchmark — what fraction of the lot passes through optical-sort rejection of black, broken, or off-colour seed. Sortex 99% is bakery / commercial grade; 99.5% is premium tahini / halva grade demanded by Israeli, Lebanese, and Turkish processors; 99.95% is Japan-AA / Korea premium grade demanded by sushi-bun toppings, sesame-oil retail packers, and high-end confectionery.
- Humera, Sudanese, Pakistani, or Indian sesame — which origin?
- Humera (Ethiopian / Eritrean western lowland) is the global benchmark for premium white sesame — high oil content (53–55%), bright white seed, sweet flavour. Sudanese is comparable but variable. Pakistani Sindh / Punjab sesame is high-quality and nearer to Gulf markets. Indian Gujarat / Madhya Pradesh sesame is high-volume, slightly smaller seed, often blended. Match origin to end-use; we route Humera to Israeli tahini, Sudanese / Pakistani to Gulf retail, Indian to bulk oil-extraction.
- What is the Salmonella test protocol?
- Every shipment to EU, Japan, Korea, USA destinations carries a Salmonella-negative test report from an ILAC-accredited origin lab plus a destination retest at port-of-discharge if required. Sesame-Salmonella has been a recurring global issue (2018 EU recalls, 2021 Australian recalls); we run pre-loading and post-loading tests on every lot above 5 MT. Steam-pasteurised lots carry an additional certificate.
- Hulled or natural — what changes?
- Natural sesame retains the seed coat — used for tahini and halva manufacture (the coat carries flavour compounds). Hulled sesame has the coat mechanically removed — used in bakery toppings (sesame-bun seeds), oil extraction (higher oil yield), and confectionery. Hulled commands a 8–12% premium over natural for the same Sortex grade because of yield loss in hulling. Specify clearly on the PO.
- How do you handle moisture and FFA on long-haul shipments?
- Specify moisture < 6% and FFA < 2% on origin COA. Long-haul (Mundra to Yokohama 28–35 days) requires moisture < 5.5% pre-loading because container condensation can lift moisture 0.5% in transit. We ship sesame in unlined 25 kg PP bags (breathable) on long routes and add silica gel desiccant to FIBCs. Sortex re-cleaning at destination port is available for high-spec buyers.
Related buyer guides & trade briefs
Long-form guides written by the Kehkashan trade desk for buyers and procurement teams scoping origin trade-offs, variety codes, and documentation flows.
trade brief
Bulk Sesame Seeds Importer Guide 2026 — Humera, Sortex 99.5, FOB
Sortex-grade sesame for US importers — Sudan, Ethiopia, Humera, India, Pakistan origins. Hulled, natural, white/brown/black. FOB pricing, reply in 1 working day.
12 min readRead the guide →variety guide
Sesame Sortex Grades 99% / 99.5% / 99.95% — Margin Impact
Glossary of optical sorting tiers with origin notes (Humera, Sudan, Nigeria, India) and a buyer-side spec template for FOB and CFR sesame contracts.
9 min readRead the guide →origin report
Sesame Origin Comparison — Humera vs Sudan vs Pakistan vs India
Side-by-side comparison of the four primary sesame export origins: color, sweetness, oil content, sortex grade availability, EU aflatoxin compliance, FOB pricing.
11 min readRead the guide →
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