Russia pushes Kazakhstan out of grain markets

Russian agricultural products continue to fill markets that traditionally belonged to Kazakhstan. At the same time, the price offered is much lower than ours. Alisher Khodzhanazarov, the head of Kazakhstan’s largest agricultural holding Olzha Agro, said that Kazakhstan is losing its markets due to the constant low prices. It is unclear when the grain producers will get out of this situation. He believes that the market will face several more years of low prices.

“New threats and risks in agriculture have also hit the Kazakh export market. Previously, we used to harvest 15 million tons of grain, and in times of drought, having harvested 13-14 million tons, this was always compensated by a high price. Any farmer knew what kind of yield was offset by a high price. Conversely, if you harvest 16-17 million tons, the low price is offset by a high yield. Now the situation has changed a lot,” Khodzhanazarov said in a statement posted on his social media page.

The grain deficit is covered by imports from Russia. As a result, there is a constant surplus of raw materials and low prices.

“We are losing markets. If 10 years ago there were 65 importing countries for our products, now there are only 15. Today, the main importing countries of our agricultural products are Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and China. But these markets have begun to be filled with Russian agricultural products. So we are constantly at these low prices. It is unclear when we will get out of them. We are likely to face several years of low prices,” the head of the holding informs.

As previously reported by Kazakhstani traders, the price of grain, which went up after heavy rainfall, will not last long. Prices are expected to decline.

Tags: Kazakhstan, export, grain, Russia