In addition to its approximately 350,000-ton sugar reserve, Kazakhstan plans to import 100,000 tons of sugar from major exporters such as Brazil, India and Vietnam. The minister of trade and integration Bakhyt Sultanov talked to journalists about whether the state is negotiating additional sugar imports, Kazinform reports.
According to Orda.kz, Kazakhstan previously used to purchase raw sugar from Russia and produced sugar at local factories. The share of Russian sugar in Kazakhstan’s imports equaled about 70%. Now, Russia has limited sugar export to the EAEU countries regulated by its ministry of agriculture until August 31, 2022. Kazakhstan is left with options to buy sugar from far-away Brazil, which might have affected the prices of the good.
Earlier, QazMonitor wrote about the rapid rise of sugar prices over the past few months. Food producers in Kazakhstan expect sugar to grow in price up to 1,000 tenge per kilogram by fall. Yet, it may take a long time for Kazakhstan to develop its own sugar production.