Since the beginning of the 2025-26 marketing year (September - December), Kazakhstan has exported 4,123,300 tons of wheat (soft and hard), almost 1.5 times more than the same period last season. Moreover, December exports reached an all-time monthly high of 1,778,000 tons, 2.1 times higher than November and 1.85 times higher than December 2024/25. This was reported by Yevgeny Karabanov, head of the analytical committee of the Grain Union of Kazakhstan.
"Thus, approximately 50% of the wheat export potential has been exported in the first four months of the current marketing year," the expert noted.
According to the Grain Union, over the four months compared to the same period of the previous marketing year, exports to the following countries increased:
- Uzbekistan - by 76% (December 2025/26 - an all-time record of 1 million 372 thousand tons);
- Kyrgyzstan - by 27%;
- Afghanistan - by more than 1.8 times (128.4 thousand tons in December 2025/26);
- Turkey - by 27 times;
- Georgia - by 8.5 times.
Furthermore, since the beginning of the marketing year, Kazakh wheat has been shipped to countries to which it did not export in September-December of the previous year. Algeria received 140 thousand tons (56.5 thousand tons in December 2025), Iran - 56.5 thousand tons, the Netherlands - 2.9 thousand tons, and Portugal - 2.2 thousand tons.
At the same time, wheat exports to the following countries decreased:
- Turkmenistan - by more than 2.7 times, to 8.7 thousand tons;
- Azerbaijan - by 34%, to 126.9 thousand tons;
- Tajikistan - by 6%, to 482.7 thousand tons;
- Latvia - by almost 3.7 times, to 7.2 thousand tons;
- Italy - by almost 6.7 times, to 9.4 thousand tons;
- Norway - by more than 2.1 times, to 1.4 thousand tons.
Yevgeny Karabanov noted that the more than 22-fold decrease in wheat exports to China, to 5.9 thousand tons, was offset by an increase in feed meal supplies by 674.7 thousand tons compared to the same period last marketing year.
The expert also reported a steady upward trend in demand for Kazakh wheat from major importers in Central Asia, primarily Uzbekistan.
"We are increasing our previous forecast for total Kazakh wheat exports (soft and hard) in 2025/26 by 300 tons, to 7.7 million tons," clarified Evgeny Karabanov.
At the same time, he added, wheat imports, primarily from Russia, for September-November 2025 amounted to 168.9 thousand tons.
"Considering the pace of wheat and feed meal exports, we are increasing our previous forecast for wheat imports in 2025/26 by 400,000 tons, to 1 million tons," the expert noted.