September 8, 2010

Kazakhstan may ship 1.5 million tonnes grain to Russia

Kazakhstan may export 1.5 million tonnes of grain to Russia if tariffs on grain exports are lowered, said Romin Madinov, chairman of the Kazakhstan parliament's Agrarian Committee.

The Russian republics of Tatarstan and Bashkiria are already negotiating grain purchases from Kazakhstan. She said that Russia and Kazakhstan should have a common grain terminal in the Far East with a capacity of 200,000-300,000 tonnes.

Analysts say that in 2010-2011. Russia may have to import more than five million tonnes of grain. Pavel Skurikhin, president of Russia's Grain Producers Union, said the situation would become clearer at the end of September, after the Siberian harvests have been gathered.