Kazakhstan's grain exports have shrunk by a quarter so far this marketing year, hit by poor grain quality and heavy supply of from other producers, the Agriculture Ministry said on Monday. Central Asia's largest grain producer, Kazakhstan exported 4.26 million tonnes between the start of the marketing year on July 1 and February 20, down from 5.77 million in the same period of the previous crop season, the ministry said.
Exports of 1.59 million tonnes of flour in grain equivalent were down from 1.85 million."Last year's smaller crop, its poor quality and larger global wheat output, including in Russia and Ukraine, were the main factors behind lower exports and worse competitiveness of Kazakh grain," it said in a statement sent to Reuters. Heavy rains and early snow in the three main grain-growing regions in the north cut Kazakhstan's grain harvest to 17.2 million tonnes by clean weight last year from 18.2 million in 2013.
Kazakhstan is likely to export 7 million tonnes of grain this marketing year, down from 8.7 million, senior ministry officials have said. Kazakhstan's ex-Soviet Central Asian neighbours and the Caspian Sea states of Iran and Azerbaijan remain the main destinations for its grain exports.
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