Kazakhstan’s flour milling sector is experiencing a significant downturn, with flour exports projected to plummet from 1.5 million tonnes to 500,000 tonnes over the next five years.
This decline is attributed to the nation’s strategic pivot from flour to raw grain exports, a move that has already resulted in milling operations running at 39% capacity and the closure of several mills.
Zhomart Motyshev, head of the Grain Processors Union of Kazakhstan, spoke at a parliamentary panel, highlighting that some milling enterprises are relocating to neighboring countries.
Motyshev expressed concerns that government subsidies favoring grain exports, particularly through routes like Turkmenistan to Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, are inadvertently encouraging these nations to develop their own milling industries.
This shift could render Kazakhstan’s domestic flour surplus obsolete, further exacerbating the challenges faced by local millers. He advocates for redirecting subsidies to bolster domestic enterprises and maintain the viability of Kazakhstan’s milling sector.