The Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan offers the Interagency Commission on Foreign Trade Policy to consider lifting restrictive measures on the export of wheat and flour, the Minister of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Erbol Karashukeev wrote on his Facebook on August 27.
"As you know, quotas on export of grain in the volumes of 550 thsd tonnes and flour in the volumes of 370 thsd tonnes are valid until September 30 in Kazakhstan. When these restrictions were introduced, we first of all tried to protect the domestic market from a food crisis in view of the difficult international situation. In addition, at that time, there was no understanding of what kind of harvest Kazakhstan was waiting for", – the minister said.
Now, according to him, "the situation has changed". The forecasts of wheat production are optimistic at about 13 mln tonnes, which is up sizably from previous poor crop season.
"Therefore, we consider it expedient to let agricultural producers to sell grain and flour abroad. This year's harvest combined with carry-over stocks will be enough for both the Kazakh and foreign markets", – E. Karashukeev emphasized.
