May 16, 2012

Kazakhstan aims to boost grain exports to China

After the new railway line Zhetygen-Korgas is launched, Kazakhstan plans to increase grain exports to China, Kazakh Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov said, Kazinform reported.

"The new railway will allow us to increase the grain export volume. The volume of Chinese demand is growing steadily. Thus we can supply greater grain volumes to China in the future," Mamytbekov said at the sidelines of the government meeting on Tuesday (May 15).

Launching Zhetygen-Korgas railway is scheduled for December 2012. The railway will be 293 kilometres long and have 14 operation points, including five stations, 28 bridges and two over-bridges. Kazakhstan is among the world's major grain exporters. In 2011 the republic had a record harvest of nearly 27 million tonnes of grain in net weight. Export potential was estimated at 15 million tonnes.