Kazakhstan and South Korea have signed a grain export contract, according to Evgeny Aman, the executive secretary of the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture.

"The Agriculture Ministry is now trying to find ways to cut the transportation costs for grain delivery to China and the Black Sea ports. The export possibilities have become smaller for Kazakhstan and the ministry has to look for new ones," Aman said.

Kazakhstan and South Korea reached agreement on supply of 600,000 tonnes of wheat through China.

This year, Kazakhstan is planning to export about three million tonnes of grain to the Southeast Asian countries through China.

In 2009, Kazakhstan harvested 22.7 million tonnes of grain in bunker weight, or 20 million tonnes in net weight. According to the Agriculture Ministry, this marketing year, the republic is ready to export about 9-10 million tonnes of grain.