Production of Castor Seed is confined mainly to India, China & Brazil, but its consumption is higher in EU Countries, USA & Japan, who use it to produce & consume / export its value-added derivatives. 

Castor Oil Production & Consumption:  2004-2005				(in MT)
	Castor Seed		Castor Oil
Country	Production		Production	Consumption
India	8,50,000		3,36,000	82,000
China	2,50,000		1,05,700	1,67,000
Brazil	1,77,000		10,400	55,000
EU	-		4,600	1,30,000
USA	-		-	40,000
Japan	-		-	22,000
Others	50,000		30,600	42,000
Total	13,27,000		5,47,300	5,38,000

Note: 
Castor Seed production varies widely from year to year depending on various factors such as advancement of monsoon, other oil seeds market, up country & international demand etc. The above figures are indicative based on the statistics supplied by Oil world. 

The imbalance in the production & consumption patterns as can be seen from the above, have necessitated large volumes of international trade. While India is the largest exporter of Castor Oil, EU is its largest importer. China, which used to be a net exporter of Castor Oil, has now turned a net importer as it concentrated on manufacturing value added Castor Oil derivatives in its country rather than exporting the Castor Oil. Brazil, the other important player has now become net importer due to increase in its domestic consumption.