BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 4
By Amina Nazarli - Trend:
Turkmenistan's Ahal vegetable oil plant produced over 10,000 tons of natural cotton oil worth 71.4 million manats ($20.41 million) last year, Trend reports via the Turkmen state media outlets.
In comparison to 2020, the production has increased by 10 percent.
The plant, which produces high-purity deodorized cottonseed oil, sells its oil under the brand name 'Ahal'.
Last year, the plant in Ahal's Geoktepe district also produced large quantities of hulls and oilcakes from processed seeds, which are used as feed in livestock and poultry farms.
The vegetable oil plant, which opened in 2010, is run by the Agriculture and Environmental Protection Ministry.
Cottonseed oil production in Turkmenistan enters a new working season from December to January.
Meanwhile, seven oil plants in Turkmenistan's regions have started processing fresh cotton seeds.
In addition to the Ahal plant, refined cottonseed oil is produced under the brand names "Ak Pamyk" in the Mary region and "Akar" in Lebap. The largest are the Turkmenabat and Bayramali oil plants, which have the capacity to produce 25,000-30,000 tons of natural products per year.
In the extraction of oil from cotton seeds, no genetically modified additives are used. Turkmen vegetable oil is actively exported to the CIS countries.
Earlier this month the government of Turkmenistan has announced purchasing prices for cotton seeds, which was set at 1,000 manats ($285) per ton. In accordance with the new decree cotton seeds produced by the Agriculture and Environmental Protection Ministry's cotton ginning factories and supplied to enterprises producing vegetable oil will be purchased at this price.
The document will safeguard the profitability of cotton ginning firms, manage their financial and economic interactions with vegetable oil production enterprises, and keep seed material costs stable for cotton growers.