October 10, 2006

Kazakhstan's 2006/07 grain export seen 7-8 million tonnes

Kazakhstan is likely to export between 7-8 million tonnes of grain in the 2006/07 marketing year, some three-and-a-half to four times the amount exported in the previous marketing year, the government press service announced Monday (Oct 9), quoting Prime Minister Daniial Akhmetov.

Akhmetov said Kazakhstan's 2006 grain harvest increased to 16 million tonnes in clean weight from 13.5 million tonnes in 2005.

Kazakhstan is currently in negotiations to supply large amounts of grain to China.

China isn't at this time importing grain from Kazakhstan because of poor quality in the past, but Chinese experts are currently inspecting Kazakhstan's grain producing and processing facilities and a deal is expected soon.