In May 2025/26, Kazakhstan exported 14% more lentils than in April. Since the start of the season, the country has shipped 47% more to foreign markets than last year. This is already 20% higher than the best result on record. Turkey was the undisputed export driver, while China delivered the biggest breakthrough, according to the APK News agency.
The Grain Union of Kazakhstan published information on lentil exports from Kazakhstan for September-May 2025/26. According to the data, lentil shipments in May amounted to 24,000 tons, 14% more than in April.
Cumulatively, lentil exports for the first nine months of the current marketing year amounted to a record 394,900 tons – 47% more than for the same period last marketing year and 20% higher than the export volume for the entire previous marketing year, which was previously the best on record.
Compared to the same period last marketing year, Turkey, the main buyer, increased its lentil imports from Kazakhstan by almost 2.3 times, reaching 347.1 thousand tons, accounting for 88% of total exports.
In addition, during the first nine months of the current marketing year, lentils were shipped to the following countries:
Afghanistan - 7.3 thousand tons (+20% y-o-y);
Kyrgyzstan - 1.5 thousand tons (-6.1 times y-o-y);
Azerbaijan - 3.5 thousand tons (-8% y-o-y).
Small volumes were also shipped to other countries: Iran, the Czech Republic, Poland, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Serbia, Spain, Syria, Jordan, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.
20.2 thousand tons were shipped to China (1 thousand tons for the entire last marketing year).
"We're increasing our previous forecast for lentil exports from Kazakhstan in 2025/26 by 30,000 tons, to 470,000 tons, which would be an all-time high," said Union analyst Evgeny Karabanov.
He also noted that 84% of exports have been completed in the first nine months of the current marketing year.