Kazakhstan has exhausted its export potential for barley

The Grain Union of Kazakhstan presented the latest data on barley exports from Kazakhstan for 8 months (September – April) of MY 2024/25.

According to the data, barley exports in April amounted to 173.5 thousand tons, which is lower than the previous month – 214.8 thousand tons.

“The decrease is seasonal in nature and also signals the exhaustion of export potential in the current marketing year,” commented the head of the Grain Union Analytics Committee, Yevgeny Karabanov.

According to him, exports to Iran are still very active. The figures are at record levels for 4 MY.

Exports to China are somewhat behind the pace of the previous season, which is due to internal unspoken restrictions on exports to China, as well as active purchases of barley in Kazakhstan by Iran.

Due to demand from two main exporters – China and Iran, the domestic price of barley is at its highest since January 2023 – 87-91 thousand tenge.

Imports, mainly from the Russian Federation, are at their lowest level in the last 4 MY.

“Considering the high demand and prices on the domestic market, we are increasing the previous forecast for barley exports from Kazakhstan in MY 2024/25 by 110 thousand tons – to 1.96 million tons,” noted E. Karabanov.

Tags: Kazakhstan, export, barley, prices