BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 24
By Eldar Janashvili – Trend:
The main feature of Azerbaijan's grain market is relatively small volumes of consumption, Taleh Gasimov, director general of the Karat Holding agro-industrial company, said.
Gasimov made the remark at the 11th Global Grain Outlook international grain trading conference in Baku on Oct. 24, Trend reports.
“The main difference between the grain markets of the South Caucasus and Central Asia is that in terms of the number of population, and, consequently, in terms of consumption, the countries of the South Caucasus are not comparable with the countries of Central Asia, where 80-90 million people consume much more cereals,” director general added.
As for the flour market, Gasimov stressed that during the first years of independence, Azerbaijan imported most of the flour from Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.
“The agricultural reforms being implemented in Azerbaijan and the policy of import substitution contributed to the emergence of private flour mills producing flour from a mixture of imported and local wheat in the ratio of 75 to 25 percent after 1997,” Gasimov said.
"The quality of the final product – flour produced in Azerbaijan is higher than in the countries from which we import wheat and this is not an exaggeration,” director general said. “Our advantage is that we can mix wheat from different regions to get a unique flavor."
At the end of the speech, Gasimov also stressed the work of the Azerbaijani government, which widely encourages the activity of local agricultural producers.
The 11th Global Grain Outlook international grain trading conference is being held in Baku. The conference has been organized by the Russian Grain Union, the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO), the Russian Export Center and the Federation of Iranian Food Associations.
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