During a video conference on Monday (4 Jul), Deputy Prime Minister A.Yazmyradov reported on plans to build a grain elevator on the Turkmen-Afghan border on cost-sharing arrangement with Kazakhstan.
Wheat and flour from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan and beyond to other countries will be shipped through this terminal.
The elevator will be located on the territory of the livestock farm Çemenabat in the Serkhetabat district of Mary Velayat and will be designed to store 100,000 tons of wheat. Bags producing workshop will also be built there.
Noting that the project will contribute to the development of relations between the regional countries, as well as to economic revival of Afghanistan, the President of Turkmenistan asked the government to study the proposal carefully.
Kazakhstan is a key supplier of wheat and flour to Afghanistan. According to the May and June reports of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (FAS USDA), Afghanistan will increase wheat imports in the 2022-23 from 3.2 million tons to 3.4 million tons. Part of the growth will be ensured on account of Kazakhstan wheat. The reports say Kazakhstan will see a surge in exports on strong demand in Central Asia for wheat and flour.
According to the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan, in the first quarter of 2022, Kazakhstan exported 227,400 tons of wheat and meslin to Afghanistan, or 46.7% up in quantity terms year-on-year. ///nCa, 5 July 2022