Kazakh Agriculture Minister Yerbol Karashukeyev on Saturday said the ministry believes the limits on the export of wheat and flour, which are in place until the end of September, could be removed, Trend reports citing TASS.
The country imposed restrictions on the export of flour and wheat in April. They were first supposed to be in effect until June 15, then were extended until September 30.
"In September, foreign markets for Kazakhstani grain and flour may reopen. The Ministry of Agriculture proposes to the interdepartmental commission on foreign trade policy to consider the possibility of removing restrictive measures for the export of wheat and flour. Our initiative will be discussed next week at the next meeting of the commission,"the minister said on Facebook.
Karashukeyev said the export quota is 550,000 tons for grain now, and 370,000 tons for flour. "When these restrictions were introduced, we first of all tried to protect the domestic market from the food crisis, given the difficult international situation. In addition, it wasn’t clear at the time what harvest Kazakhstan could expect," he said.
The minister said the situation has now changed, as the forecasts for the harvest of wheat are optimistic and amount to about 13 million tons, which is significantly more than in the previous year of poor harvest. "Therefore, we consider it appropriate to give the go-ahead to agricultural producers to sell grain and flour abroad. This year's harvest, given the remaining inventories from the last year's crop, will be enough for both the Kazakh and foreign markets. Therefore, we are waiting for the meeting of the commission and hope that we will be fully supported and all restrictions on exports will be lifted in September," the official said.