Kazakhstan imposes six-month partial ban on wheat importsKazakhstan has imposed a six-month partial ban on wheat imports, with Agriculture Minister Aidarbek Saparov signing the order to restrict deliveries by road, water and rail from third countries and fellow Eurasian Economic Union members.The ban, published on the government's legal portal, exempts wheat shipped by rail to poultry farms, grain processing plants, licensed elevators and the state-owned Food Contract Corporation. However, wheat imported under those exemptions cannot be resold on the domestic or foreign markets, the order said.Deputy Agriculture Minister Azat Sultanov told Interfax-Kazakhstan earlier that the restrictions were tied to the winter wheat harvest in Russia and Kazakhstan's own large carryover stocks."This is linked to the winter crop harvest in Russia. At the same time, we have large carryover grain stocks. To free up elevators for the new harvest, we will struggle with storage and drying if we don't act," Sultanov said. "So the decision was made to support the domestic market."Kazakhstan previously imposed a temporary wheat import ban from August through the end of 2024, though rail deliveries to processors and certain industries were exempted under permit lists.Russia is the main wheat supplier to Kazakhstan. According to the Kazakh Grain Union, imports of Russian wheat totaled 1.54 million tonnes between September 2025 and April 2026. April imports fell nearly 38% from March to 280,000 tonnes. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX