MOQ tiers
| Tier | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | 1 MT LCL | — |
| Commercial | 5 MT LCL | — |
| Standard FCL | 1 × 20'FCL ≈ 18–22 MT | — |
Kalonji (Black Seed) Exporter & Wholesale Supplier — 35+ Origins, 80+ Destinations
Kehkashan exports kalonji / black seed (Nigella sativa) from origin partners in Pakistan, India, Egypt, and Türkiye — supplied in bulk FCL or LCL with FOB Karachi or Jebel Ali, CFR, or CIF terms to traditional-medicine, nutraceutical, and culinary 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
- Nigella sativa
- Also known as
- Nigella, Black cumin, Black caraway, حبة البركة, الحبة السوداء, чернушка посевная
- HS code
- 0909.61
- Common varieties
- Origins available
- Pakistan, India, Egypt, SY, Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia
- MOQ
- 1 × 20'FCL ≈ 18–22 MT
- Pack sizes
- 25 kg PP bag, 50 kg jute bag, 1 MT FIBC / jumbo bag
- Specs
- Purity: 99%, Moisture: < 8%, Admixture: < 1%, Oil content: 30–40% (cold-press grade), Thymoquinone: 0.6–1.2% (variety-dependent), Sortation: Sortex-cleaned
- 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 |
|---|---|
| Indian / Pakistani commercial | RFQ — entry tier |
| Egyptian / Syrian (premium) | RFQ — premium tier |
| Cold-press oil grade (high thymoquinone) | RFQ — top tier |
Lead times — top destinations
| Discharge port | Transit | Incoterm |
|---|---|---|
| Karachi (Pakistan, FOB) | 0 days | FOB |
| Jebel Ali (UAE) | 4–6 days | CFR / CIF |
| Jeddah Islamic Port (KSA) | 8–12 days | CFR / CIF |
| Dammam (KSA) | 7–10 days | CFR / CIF |
| Mombasa (Kenya) | 14–20 days | CFR / CIF |
- Packaging formats
- 25 kg PP bag · 50 kg jute bag · 1 MT FIBC
- Container capacity
- 20'FCL: 18–22 MT
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 / batch codes
- Certificate of Origin (CoO) — Dubai Chamber attested
- Phytosanitary Certificate — origin NPPO
- EU Aflatoxin test (B1 + total) per EC 1881/2006
- Steam-treatment / ETO-free declaration
- Pesticide-residue panel (where requested)
- Halal Certificate (where requested)
- Fumigation Certificate
Procurement-team questions
Answers to the questions buyers ask us most often during RFQ and trial-shipment evaluation.
- Why does origin matter for kalonji?
- Egyptian and Syrian kalonji typically tests 0.8–1.2% thymoquinone (the active anti-oxidant compound), against 0.5–0.8% for Indian / Pakistani lots. Premium nutraceutical extractors and Habba-Sauda oil makers in Saudi Arabia and Yemen pay 30–40% premium for Egyptian or Syrian origin. Bulk culinary retail accepts Indian / Pakistani at lower cost. Specify origin and thymoquinone spec on PO.
- How do you measure thymoquinone content?
- GC or HPLC with thymoquinone reference standard, run by an ILAC-accredited origin lab. Expressed as % w/w on dry-matter basis. Premium spec is > 1% thymoquinone for cold-press oil-extraction grade; commercial culinary spec is > 0.5%. We supply a thymoquinone assay on programme volumes; spot lots ship with a representative composite-sample report.
- Sortex grade — how clean?
- Specify Sortex 99% minimum for retail / culinary; 99.5% for cold-press oil grade (cleaner seed = cleaner oil). Indian Madhya Pradesh and Pakistani Punjab cooperative lots typically Sortex to 99.0–99.5%. Egyptian and Syrian premium lots Sortex to 99.5–99.8% because of slower hand-picking pre-cleaning. We re-Sortex at Jebel Ali on request for a small handling premium.
- How much oil yield from cold-pressing?
- Cold-press cake-and-press extraction gives 28–32% oil yield from premium Egyptian / Syrian seed; 25–28% from Indian / Pakistani. Refined extraction (solvent-assisted) gives 35–38%. Buyers planning oil-extraction lines size seed purchasing against pressing yield and retail oil-pack throughput. We provide oil-content COA on every cold-press-grade shipment.
- Halal certification for GCC retail?
- All export-bound kalonji ships with Halal Certificate from origin authority (JAKIM, MUI, or origin Islamic council) as standard. Saudi retail packers running SFDA-registered packs typically also require Halal-Certified-Manufacturer (HCM) chain — we route through HCM-cert origin processors for those buyers.
- What about admixture and foreign matter?
- Specify admixture < 1% and foreign matter < 0.5% on COA. Common admixture is fennel and dill seed (similar size). Pre-loading hand-pick + Sortex catches most; we sample 10× per FCL pre-loading and reject any lot with visible admixture > 1%. Retail-pack buyers wanting visual perfection should specify hand-picked and accept a 5–8% pricing premium.
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
Black Seed (Nigella sativa / Kalonji) — Buyer's Guide 2026
Trade-desk reference for kalonji importers: Pakistan, India, Egypt, Turkiye, Ethiopia and Syrian origins, thymoquinone titration, fixed-oil yield, EU compliance.
12 min readRead the guide →
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