World Grain - February 2013 - 26

COUNTRYFOCUS

Key Facts

Focus on
Kazakhstan
World’s leading flour exporter is also a
major supplier of high quality wheat
by Chris Lyddon

AZERBAIJA
AIJA
AIJAN

Kazakhstan is a major producer and exporter of high quality
wheat, which dominates the output of its large-scale commercial
farms. However, production is highly variable. It’s also a major
processor, with a milling industry that has been the top ranked
wheat ﬂour exporter in the world in recent years.
According to the International Grains Council (IGC), Kazakhstan is facing a sharp fall in production in 2012-13, with total
grain production put at 12.5 million tonnes, compared with the
record 26.1 million the year before. Its wheat crop is down at 10.5
million tonnes from 22.7 million. The IGC total also includes 1.2
million tonnes of barley, down from 2.6 million.
It means a drop in total grain exports to a forecast 7.2 million
tonnes for 2012-13, compared with 11.4 million the year before.
Wheat exports are forecast to fall to 7 million tonnes from 10.7
million, while exports of barley are set to fall to 200,000 tonnes
from 700,000.
Despite all that, Kazakhstan’s wheat exports in July to October
were actually up by 35% at 2.4 million tonnes.
“Key northern wheat growing
RUSSIA
areas, especially the Kostanay region, experienced continued dry
weather and high temperatures
KAZAKHSTAN
throughout the growing season,”
CHINA
an attaché report explained. “AcUZBEKISTAN
KYRGYZSTAN
cording to the Ministry of AgriculTURKMENISTAN
TAJ TAN
TAJIKISTAN
T
ture of Kazakhstan, as of Oct. 24,
IRAN
AFG
GHANISTAN
Kazakh farmers harvested 14.648
million tonnes (bunker weight) of
grain f
i from 15 058 million hectares, which accounts for
15.058
99.9% of the total harvested area,” it said, noting that
the harvest was earlier because of the smaller crop and
high temperatures. The average yield is reported at 0.97
tonnes per hectare compared with 1.76 last year.
“Despite the poor crop this year, the bumper harvest of 2011
and high prices for farmers have helped to somewhat mitigate
the negative impact on farmers (especially compared to previous years of drought),” the report said. “In addition, the Kazakh

Capital: Astana
Population: 17,522,010 (July 2012 est.)
Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant
2%, other 7%.
Location: Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion
west of the Ural (Zhayyq) River in eastern-most Europe.
Government: Republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with
little power outside the executive branch. Chief of state: President
Nursultan Nazarbayev (since Dec. 1, 1991); head of government:
Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov (since Sept. 24, 2012).
Economy: Kazakhstan, geographically the largest of the
former Soviet republics, excluding Russia, possesses enormous
fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals
and metals, such as uranium, copper, and zinc. It also has a
large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. In
2002, Kazakhstan became the first country in the former
Soviet Union to receive an investment-grade credit rating.
Kazakhstan’s economy has largely recovered from the global
financial crisis of 2008, and GDP increased 7% year-on-year in
2011. Extractive industries have been and will continue to be
the engine of this growth. Landlocked, with restricted access
to the high seas, Kazakhstan relies on its neighbors to export
its products, especially oil and grain. Although its Caspian Sea
ports, pipelines and rail lines carrying oil have been upgraded,
civil aviation and roadways have been neglected. Telecoms
are improving but require considerable investment, as does
the information technology base. Supply and distribution of
electricity can be erratic because of regional dependencies. At
the end of 2007, global financial markets froze up and the loss
of capital inflows to Kazakhstani banks caused a credit crunch.
The subsequent and sharp fall of oil and commodity prices
in 2008 aggravated the economic situation, and Kazakhstan
plunged into recession. While the global financial crisis took a
significant toll on Kazakhstan’s economy, it has rebounded well.
In response to the crisis, Kazakhstan’s government devalued
the tenge (Kazakhstan’s currency) to stabilize market pressures
and injected around $10 billion in economic stimulus. Rising
commodity prices have helped revive Kazakhstan’s economy,
which registered roughly 7% growth in 2010-11. Despite
solid macroeconomic indicators, the government realizes
that its economy suffers from an overreliance on oil and
extractive industries, the so-called “Dutch disease.” In response,
Kazakhstan has embarked on an ambitious diversification
program, aimed at developing targeted sectors like transport,
pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, petrochemicals and food
processing. In 2010 Kazakhstan joined the Belarus-KazakhstanRussia Customs Union in an effort to boost foreign investment
and improve trade relationships.
GDP per capita: $13,000 (2011 est.); inflation: 8.3%
(2011 est.); unemployment: 5.4% (2011 est.).
Currency: Tenge (KZT): 1 U.S. dollar equals 150.8 tenge
(Jan. 22, 2013).
Exports: $88.47 billion (2011 est.): oil and oil products
59%, ferrous metals 19%, chemicals 5%, machinery 3%,
grain, wool, meat, coal.
Imports: $41.21 billion (2011 est.): machinery and
equipment, metal products, foodstuffs.
Major crops/agricultural products: Grain (mostly spring
wheat), cotton; livestock.
Agriculture: 5.2% of GDP and 25.9% of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .kz; 67,464 (2012) hosts and 5.299 million
(2009) users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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