Kazakhstan's grain exports in 2004/05 are likely to total only 3.0 million tonnes, far below forecasts of 5.0 million, a Kazakh agriculture ministry official said on Tuesday.
"I believe (grain exports) will total 3.0 million tonnes at best because Russia and Ukraine are enjoying good harvests this season and that complicates sales," Raman Yevniyev, head of the ministry's plant growing department, told reporters.
Last year Russia and Ukraine harvested poor grain crops and had to resort to grain imports from Kazakhstan. Yevniyev said the Central Asian State's grain harvest was estimated at no less than 12 million tonnes by clean weight.
The vast steppe nation produced 14.8 million tonnes of grain by clean weight in the 2003 calendar year and exported 5.8 million tonnes.
Yevniyev said the country's grain exports were also set to suffer from a plunge in prices as traditional exporters Russia and Ukraine recovered their market positions.
While Russia and Ukraine have cut their imports of Kazakh grain, Caspian neighbour Azerbaijan is emerging as a serious buyer. A senior Azure official said last week that the country might import up to 1.0 million tonnes of grain in 2005.
Azerbaijan bought 822,000 tonnes of grain mainly from Kazakhstan in the first nine months of this year.
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