Kazakhstan raises grain export estimate

Kazakhstan may export as much as 5.5 million tonnes of grain this year, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Wednesday, revising an earlier forecast of 5.0 million tonnes.
"I think this year Kazakhstan will have about 5.5 million tonnes of export capacity," Nazarbayev said during a live television broadcast. "But we must also take into account that there may be good crops in Russia and other countries too."
The Agriculture Ministry earlier this month revised its grain crop forecast to 13.4 million tonnes by clean weight from 13.0 million tonnes previously.
The Central Asian state's export capacity often depends on crops in Russia and Ukraine as they are closer to other ex-Soviet buyers.
The US Agriculture Department attache said this month it expected Kazakhstan's wheat exports to reach as much as 5 million tonnes. Most Kazakh grain is wheat, although it does not usually publish an exact breakdown.