Kazakh grain exports to Europe face double tariff pressure - unionKazakh grain and oilseed exports to Europe are coming under mounting tariff pressure as Russia raises transit fees and Kazakhstan's own railway operator seeks a steep increase in domestic infrastructure tariffs, the Grain Union of Kazakhstan said Monday.The warning follows a notification by Russian Railways, or RZD, that it will raise transit tariffs on routes to and from the Baltic states and Finland starting in June.Yevgeny Karabanov, head of analytics at the Grain Union, said Kazakh exporters have primarily shipped durum wheat and flaxseed to the European Union through ports in Estonia and Latvia during the current agricultural year, which runs from September 2025 to August 2026."For Kazakh grain and oilseed shipments via Latvian and Estonian ports, the transit tariff increase will amount to $16 to $18 per tonne," Karabanov wrote on his Telegram channel. "Given the current cost structure for Kazakh exporters, this means lower export margins, a weaker pricing position in the European market and increased competitive pressure."He stressed that the changes are unfolding as Kazakhstan's national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, or KTZ, pursues a near-doubling of its own trunk network tariffs."The simultaneous rise in RZD transit rates and the KTZ infrastructure tariff is creating a double tariff squeeze on Kazakh exporters," Karabanov said. "Under these conditions, a number of European destinations could become economically unviable."KTZ has filed an application with the country's antitrust committee to raise its trunk railway network tariff by 80%, citing the need to service borrowings taken on to fund infrastructure projects. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX