• Senegal has removed a 4% tax on peanut exports for the 2025/2026 season.
• Authorities aim to export 300,000 to 450,000 tons after sharp declines in recent years.
• A bumper harvest and weak processing capacity raise market absorption concerns.

Senegal has lifted the 4% tax on peanut export shipments for the 2025/2026 marketing season to ease exports, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on January 13.

Authorities are aiming to place between 300,000 and 450,000 tons of peanuts on the international market during the season. If met, this target would mark a recovery in exports from Senegal’s peanut sector, which has seen a sharp downturn in recent years, according to data from the National Agency for Statistics and Demography.

After peaking at 336,000 tons in 2021, peanut shipments fell to 121,798 tons in 2024, a decline of 64% over four years. Over the same period, export revenues dropped by 57%, falling from CFA154.7 billion ($274.7 million) to CFA65.3 billion ($115.9 million).

Higher-than-expected production

The tax relief comes as the sector braces for a larger-than-expected harvest. “Through this measure, the government intends to address the challenge of marketing this year’s production, whose volumes significantly exceed initial forecasts, with more than 900,000 tons recorded,” the ministry said.

The move has nonetheless raised concerns about the capacity of traditional marketing channels, particularly local processing, to absorb the crop. This has fueled fears of a market glut and downward pressure on farmgate prices amid looming oversupply.

Against this backdrop, the government on January 5 instructed the National Company for the Marketing of Oilseeds of Senegal (SONACOS), the country’s main edible oil producer, to nearly double its peanut purchasing capacity to 450,000 tons, up from an initial target of 250,000 tons for the current season. The decision has yet to reassure producers.

“Over two months, SONACOS has purchased only 62,000 tons of peanuts. It would be unrealistic to think that the company can buy 450,000 tons of peanut seeds,” said the regional coordinator of the farmers’ association Aar Sunu Momel in Thiès, according to comments reported by the Senegalese Press Agency on January 11.

The government has set a floor price of CFA305 per kilogram for peanut purchases from producers for the 2025/2026 season. It remains to be seen whether the removal of the export tax will deliver the expected boost to exports and help stabilize the market.

Stéphanas Assocle