January 17, 2011
Kazakhstan, China hold talks to build grain terminal on border
National Grain Company of Kazakhstan Food Contract Corporation is currently negotiating with potential partners to build a grain terminal on the border with China on an equal footing, Daulet Uvashev said Thursday (Jan 13).
"Food Contract Corporation is looking for a company – the partner with which we, as for example, in Azerbaijan and Iran, can work together to build a grain terminal," the director of Food Contract Corporation department on foreign economic activity said.
According to him, now work with potential partners is underway, and after a final decision, the implementation of investment project on construction of a new grain terminal on the border with China will start immediately.
Earlier, the Chinese and Kazakh sides discussed a project to build a grain terminal for the export of the Kazakh grain to China in the International Centre for Cross Border Cooperation (ICBC) Horgos. This is defined by profit, as the import of wheat through this border crossing will not be considered as an import and will not require the presence of quotas.
"Construction of the grain terminal is included in our plans for 2011-2013 years. We are looking for a partner who actually will go with us to efforts cooperation," the managing director said. Meanwhile, he noted that Food Contract Corporation considers the Chinese corporation COFCO as a partner, with which they signed a memorandum of cooperation early last year.
"We see the state-owned operator with a strong state support and a strong financial base, which is COFCO, as the most preferable for us," he said.
According to Uvashev, from the beginning of last year the Food Contract Corporation started development of the Chinese market, which was stranger to it. In January 2010, 7,000 tonnes of Kazakh wheat was supplied to China.
"We see China not only as a market, but also as a transit country to enter the countries of Southeast Asia," he said.
According to him, just last year quantity of supplies of the Kazakh wheat to China amounted to about 30,000 tonnes. "This, of course, the drop in the sea, as China itself produces about 114 million tonnes of wheat, but it is the first step towards the development of our new market," he concluded.
