Uzbekistan becomes main importer of Kazakh wheat, benefiting region

TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan has become a main importer of Kazakh wheat, and an exporter of grain products, a turnaround representative of the growing ties among the Central Asian states.

In the first quarter of 2023, Uzbekistan imported 624,700 tonnes of wheat from Kazakhstan.

Last year, Uzbekistan imported 2.99 million tonnes of wheat and maslin -- a mixture of wheat and rye -- from Kazakhstan, 8.3% more than it had imported in 2021.

This means that Tashkent now buys 47.3% of Kazakhstan's grain exports.

Uzbekistan itself is also growing wheat, and more than 2.5 million tonnes of grain is expected to be harvested this summer.

In recent years, Uzbekistan has focused on grain products -- grain-processing capacity is ticking up by 2.5 million–3 million tonnes per year, according to Kazakh publication Caravan.kz.

For example, in 2008, Uzbekistan imported all its flour, but in subsequent years it was able to start exporting it and has been stepping up its exports every year, according to the report.

Aziz Melibayev, an economist from Tashkent, is not surprised that Uzbekistan has become a major flour exporter.

"This is normal in global trade, considering that geographically Uzbekistan is a transit country for delivering goods from Russia and Kazakhstan," he said.

"The decision by Uzbek companies not only to re-export Kazakh flour but to instead buy wheat and process it into a finished product is a standard business solution," he said.

Uzbekistan exports a flour mixture of 20% Uzbek wheat and 80% Kazakh wheat, according to Madamin Siddikov, who has been a farmer in Fergana province, Uzbekistan, for 30 years.

Kazakh wheat in particular is more suited for bread, while Uzbek wheat makes good feed for cattle, he said.

"Our wheat matures in the sun," Siddikov said. "As a result, its sugar level is very low. This crop needs cooler air."

Delivering food to Afghanistan

Uzbekistan's development is also benefitting neighbouring Afghanistan.

"The main buyer of Uzbek flour is Afghanistan," Yevgeny Gan, chairman of the board of founders of the Union of Grain Processors of Kazakhstan, told Caravan.kz.

"First of all, we're neighbours, so delivery isn't expensive. Second, [Afghanistan's sole] railway enters and goes through Uzbekistan," he said.

Trade between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan has continued since August 2021, noted Maxim Matnazarov, a scholar of Uzbek history.

"Afghanistan is phasing out poppy production, and the authorities are set on expanding the cultivation of agricultural products," he said. "Dehkans [farmers] are prohibited from planting poppies and instead are being asked to plant wheat."

Afghanistan will harvest only 5 million tonnes of wheat this year to meet an annual demand of about 6.5 million-7.5 million tonnes, according to Ukragroconsult.com.

Last year, Uzbekistan won a United Nations (UN) tender to supply Afghanistan with a relief consignment that included flour. UN officials had previously said that 23 million Afghans were facing hunger.

Uzbekistan is delivering those essential foods to Afghanistan, solely as emergency aid.

In April, Uzbekistan sent Afghanistan another batch of the relief consignment. It weighed 185 tonnes, including 48 tonnes of flour and 48 tonnes of wheat.