Azerbaijan, Baku, March 16 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
Kazakhstan will not impose a ban on grain export, because the country will have enough crops to meet the domestic demand, and considers the Kazakh grain highly profitable, Kazakh Agriculture Minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov said, Novosti-Kazakhstan reported.
"Kazakhstan will never impose a ban on grain export, because the domestic market will have enough grain from state recourses. Moreover, we can say that our grain producers will sell their grain in profitable conditions," Mamytbekov said at the Fifth Grain Forum in Astana on Friday.
Kazakhstan is one of the world's largest grain exporters. In 2011 Kazakhstan collected almost 27 million tons of grain in net weight. This is a record grain harvest within the years of independence. Eight million tons of grain harvest will be used for domestic consumption. Export potential is estimated at 15 million tons.
Meanwhile, according to the Kazakh Grain Union's Nurlan Tleubayev, Kazakhstan will not repeat the last year's record grain crop in 2012.
"Clearly, we will not be able to repeat last year's record harvest," Tleubayev said.
Meanwhile, it is difficult to make forecasts on crops in Kazakhstan, Tleubayev said.
The Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture plans to reduce the grain sown area by 500,000 hectares and forecasts grain corps at 14-15 million tons.
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