The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a draft order "On certain issues of sugar export from the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan," as reported by a news source.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the domestic market's needs are met by producing sugar from domestic raw materials only at 13% of the total consumption volume, with the rest being processed from cane raw materials and supplied as ready-made sugar from EAEU countries (Russia accounts for 57%, Belarus - 1.5%).
The available sugar and cane raw material reserves totaling 136 thousand tons are presumably sufficient for consumption for a period of 2.5-3 months.
However, sugar supplies from Russia within the quota of 120 thousand tons will additionally meet the domestic market's needs for another 2.5 months, excluding imports from the Republic of Belarus.
At the beginning of the year, there has been an increased demand for sugar from abroad. For instance, in the first three months of this year, 32.9 thousand tons of sugar were exported (compared to 19 thousand tons in 2023), which is 70% more than the annual volume of 2023.
During the first two months of 2024, imports amounted to 53.1 thousand tons, including 52.8 thousand tons from Russia and 0.3 thousand tons from Belarus. According to the Committee of State Revenues, in March, imports reached 23.5 thousand tons, including 22.5 thousand tons from Russia.
It was previously reported that Kazakhstan is imposing a ban on sugar exports until the end of the summer. This decision was made at a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Foreign Trade Policy.
