Cumin
Cumin is the dried ripe fruit (commonly called seed) of Cuminum cyminum, an annual herb of the carrot family grown for its warm, earthy, slightly bitter aromatic oil. The seed is harvested, threshed, sun-dried and machine-cleaned before sale, then traded whole or ground for use across food processing, spice blending, pharmaceutical and flavouring industries worldwide. India is the largest producer and exporter by volume, followed by Turkey, Syria, China and Afghanistan. The crop is an annual field crop grown on irrigated and rain-fed land, harvested once per season and stored in bulk between harvests, so quality at the point of sale depends heavily on cleaning method, sterilization method and storage time rather than on the plant variety alone.
Listed cumin markets
Each line is a grade at a delivery point. Open one for its full specification and terms.
Grades
International cumin trade has no single mandatory grading scale. Buyers instead specify against a stack of measurable thresholds: purity/foreign-matter content, moisture, volatile oil content, and, since 2020, a confirmed non-detect on ethylene oxide and its breakdown product 2-chloroethanol, because fumigation with ethylene oxide (banned as a food-contact treatment in the EU and UK) was the default sterilization method used by many exporters before the 2020-2024 EU recall wave.
Purity, foreign matter and physical condition
2 grades
| Grade | Definition |
|---|---|
| BULKAnonymous mandi-lot cumin | Visual grading only at point of sale, no disclosed sterilization method, purity and moisture not certified against a written threshold. |
| EXPORTMachine-cleaned export cumin | Purity 99.0-99.5% by weight, foreign matter under 1% by weight, no foreign object over 2mm, moisture at or under 10-13% depending on destination Codex vs ESA threshold. |
Analytical requirements
2 grades
| Grade | Definition |
|---|---|
| STDStandard analytical cumin | Total ash under 9.5%, acid-insoluble ash under 1.5%, volatile oil 2.5% minimum. |
| PREMIUMHigh-oil cumin | Volatile oil 3.5-4.0% or higher, total ash and acid-insoluble ash within Codex limits. |
Sterilization and residue verification
2 grades
| Grade | Definition |
|---|---|
| UNVERIFIEDSterilization method undisclosed | No sterilization method declared, no residue certificate issued at point of sale. |
| STEAMCERTSteam-sterilized, residue-tested cumin | Steam or non-EtO sterilization method disclosed, independent lab certificate confirming ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol combined residue at or under 0.1 mg/kg. |
Specifications outside this list trade on request. Send us the contract specification you work to and we will price against it.
Locations
| Country | Region | We trade it as |
|---|---|---|
| India | Gujarat and Rajasthan (Unjha, Mehsana, Banaskantha, Jodhpur belt) | origin, largest global producer and exporter |
| Turkey | Southeastern Anatolia | origin |
| Egypt | Minya, Assiut, Sohag | origin |
| China | Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia | origin |
| Afghanistan | northern provinces | origin, conflict-affected supply chain, must-verify before sourcing |
| United States | national | destination, food processing and retail |
| Germany | national | destination, EU spice-blending hub |
| Netherlands | national | destination, EU re-export hub |
| United Kingdom | national | destination |
| United Arab Emirates | national | destination and re-export hub |
| Vietnam | national | destination, re-export and processing hub |
| Bangladesh | national | destination |
Origins and destinations outside this list trade on request. We are not limited to the locations shown here.
Timing
Windows outside this pattern trade on request, including carry, forward positions and stock already sitting in a destination warehouse.
HarvestArrival
| Origin | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | Window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | Harvest | Harvest | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Harvest Feb to Mar, arrival Apr to OctRabi crop, sown October/November, harvested February/March in Gujarat and Rajasthan; new-crop cumin reaches export cleaning houses by April and moves through the year from bulk storage. | |||
| Turkey | Harvest | Harvest and arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Harvest Jul to Aug, arrival Aug to NovSummer harvest in Southeastern Anatolia. | |||||||
| Egypt | Harvest | Harvest and arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Harvest Apr to May, arrival May to AugSpring harvest. | |||||||
| China | Harvest | Harvest | Arrival | Arrival | Arrival | Harvest Jul to Aug, arrival Sep to NovSummer harvest in Xinjiang. |
Windows outside this pattern trade on request, including carry, forward positions and stock already sitting in a destination warehouse.
Common questions
What grades of cumin does SIP Global trade?
We quote 6 published grades of cumin, including BULK - Anonymous mandi-lot cumin, EXPORT - Machine-cleaned export cumin, STD - Standard analytical cumin, PREMIUM - High-oil cumin, UNVERIFIED - Sterilization method undisclosed and STEAMCERT - Steam-sterilized, residue-tested cumin. Every grade is tied to a delivery point and a settlement route. Grades outside the published list are priced on request.
How is cumin graded?
International cumin trade has no single mandatory grading scale. Buyers instead specify against a stack of measurable thresholds: purity/foreign-matter content, moisture, volatile oil content, and, since 2020, a confirmed non-detect on ethylene oxide and its breakdown product 2-chloroethanol, because fumigation with ethylene oxide (banned as a food-contact treatment in the EU and UK) was the default sterilization method used by many exporters before the 2020-2024 EU recall wave. Grading runs on 3 systems: Purity, foreign matter and physical condition, Analytical requirements and Sterilization and residue verification.
Where does SIP Global trade cumin?
We trade cumin in India, Turkey, Egypt, China, Afghanistan, United States, Germany and Netherlands and 4 further markets. Origins and destinations outside this list trade on request. We are not limited to the locations shown.
When is cumin harvested and when does it arrive?
Typical windows are India: harvest feb to mar, arrival apr to oct; Turkey: harvest jul to aug, arrival aug to nov; Egypt: harvest apr to may, arrival may to aug; China: harvest jul to aug, arrival sep to nov. Harvest is when the lot is taken at origin, arrival is when a shipment from that origin lands in a consuming market. Windows outside this pattern, including carry, trade on request.
How do I get a price for cumin?
Send the grade, the origin and the delivery window to the SIP Global desk. That is enough for a trader to come back with a level and a settlement route. 1 listed cumin market is published on this page, each with its full specification and terms. We take both sides, physical and financial, prompt to long dated.
Standards and data sources
The grading language on this sheet follows published standards. Trade volumes and tariff lines are public record. Verify anything here against the source.
- ISOInternational Organization for Standardization
- Codex AlimentariusFAO and WHO food standards
- UN ComtradeOfficial international trade statistics by HS code
- ITC Trade MapBilateral trade flows and tariff data
- FAOSTATFAO production and trade series for agricultural commodities
Price this with our desk
Grade, origin and window if you have them. If what you are carrying does not fit the sheet above, describe it in your own words and a trader will take it from there.