Production recovery sees Kazakhstan’s grain exports boom

Kazakhstan’s grain production rebounded dramatically last harvest thanks to far more favourable growing conditions than the previous season. The higher production and strong international demand for milling wheat and flour have seen exports rebound in the current marketing year, but the government will also be looking to rebuild wheat stocks to avoid a repeat of last year’s temporary export quotas. On January 31, 2023, Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics published its final 2022/23 crop report outlining the planted area, harvested area, yield and production for the country’s main crops. The Bureau pegged winter and spring wheat production at 16.4 million metric tonnes (Mt), up 39pc on the 11.8Mt produced in 2021/22, and the largest wheat output since the 2017/18 season. This came off a harvested area of 12.8 million hectares, up less than 1pc year-on-year. The 1.28 metric tonne per hectare (t/ha) yield was 38pc higher than the disastrous 2021 harvest. Barley output staged a ...