Kazakhstan Increased Sugar Exports

Kazakhstan has increased sugar exports by 400 times this year, despite a domestic deficit, Orda.kz reports, citing Eenrgyprom.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the sugar beet harvest in 2024 could exceed 1.1 million tons, twice as much as last year. This was made possible by an increase in planting areas by almost 87% and increased government funding.

It will only be possible to draw conclusions about the results of processing the new harvest next year. Statistics for January-July 2024 indicate low production figures for the previous season. Over seven months, domestic factories produced 93.4 thousand tons of sugar - 35.6% less than in January-July 2023. Stagnation was observed last year, analysts note, citing data from the Bureau of National Statistics.

However, despite the shortage, Kazakhstan has exported 72,500 tons of sugar to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan since the beginning of the year (77.7% of total production). Most of these exports were made before introducing a temporary ban on sugar exports, which was in effect from June 14 to August 31.

Imported sugar in Kazakhstan is mainly from Russia. Since there was little of our own sugar, imports in January-July 2024 increased by 19.9%, writes Eenrgyprom.

Last year, Kazakhstani factories did not operate at full capacity. During the harvesting campaign, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture traveled to the southern regions with the largest sugar beet areas — the Jetisu and Jambyl regions. The Ministry of Agriculture hopes that the enterprises will begin operating at full capacity shortly and will be able to process the entire harvest.

Original Author: Alexandra Mokhireva