TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 18. Stock prices for first-grade flour in Uzbekistan have increased by almost 14 percent from September 8 through September 18, Trend reports.
Cost for 1 kg of flour increased from 3712.8 Uzbek soums (31 cent) to 4230.5 soums (35 cents) over the past 10 days amid the rise in grain prices in Kazakhstan.
As per data provided by Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan, 8 million tons of wheat are grown in the country to maintain price stability in the markets and provide the population with flour. Demand exceeds the cultivated volume by 4.4 percent, accounting for some of the products being imported.
Uzbekistan is importer of Kazakh grain. In 2022, imports of wheat from the neighboring country amounted to almost 3 million tons — slightly less than half of Kazakhstan’s total export volumes.
Kazakhstan has sharply increased exports of wheat and wheat flour to Uzbekistan in May 2023. In total, since the beginning of the supply season in 2022, Uzbekistan has imported 406,600 tons of flour produced in Kazakhstan, which is 27.4 percent more than in the last season.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has also recorded an increase in the supply of Kazakh grain, as 3.09 million tons of wheat were delivered to Uzbekistan from January through September 2023, which is 40 percent more than in the same period last year (2.21 million tons).