Sugar exports from Kazakhstan are breaking records this year. According to the Bureau of National Statistics, from January to November last year, Kazakhstan exported approximately 126,000 tons of sugar. This unprecedented volume is 13 times higher than the same period in 2023 and even surpasses the total for the previous six years combined (109,000 tons), reports energyprom.kz.
Interestingly, it was last year that the Government of Kazakhstan implemented a temporary ban on sugar exports to avoid a repeat of the 2023 shortage. This ban lasted during the peak demand period for the product — from mid-June to the end of summer. During these three months, as shown in the monthly dynamics chart, there was a significant "stop" in supplies. Afterward, exports resumed at previous levels: between 15,000 to 21,000 tons per month.
The statistics do not specify whether the sugar exported from Kazakhstan is imported or domestically produced. However, based on data from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it is likely that this refers to re-export. The agency's website states that "the temporary ban on sugar exports was introduced to ensure the domestic market and eliminate its re-export."
Judging by the export structure, Kazakhstan may have served as merely a transit point for some of the imported sugar. For example, from January to November 2024, Kazakhstan imported 373.2 thousand tons of sugar from Russia, which accounted for 92.4% of the total import volume. The main buyers of sugar from Kazakhstan are countries in Asia. Of the 126 thousand tons exported from Kazakhstan, over 101.6 thousand tons, or 80.7%, were sent to Uzbekistan, 17.6 thousand tons to Tajikistan, and 6.1 thousand tons to Afghanistan. For each of these importing countries, supplies increased by 3 to 16 times. The total value of sugar exports from Kazakhstan exceeded 50.2 million dollars — ten times higher than from January to November 2023.
0 The issue of foreign trade in sugar is crucial for Kazakhstan because domestic producers cannot fully meet the population's needs for this product. For example, in the incomplete year of 2024, the share of sugar production in resources was only 24.6%. The previous year, from January to November 2023, domestic production covered 40.5% of the total resource volume — better, but still far from an adequate level of self-sufficiency. The worsening situation was influenced by negative production dynamics. Over the 11 months of last year, sugar factories produced only 131.9 thousand tons of sugar. Compared to the same period in 2023, this represented a significant reduction of 28.6%.
While domestic production fluctuates, the internal market's needs are largely met by imports. Last year, imports accounted for a significant portion of the resource structure: 75.4%. From January to November, 404.7 thousand tons of sugar were imported into the country — 48.9% more than the previous year. This large volume of foreign supplies was last seen in 2020 (416.1 thousand tons).
1 Meanwhile, last year, the area planted with sugar beets in Kazakhstan nearly doubled to 25.2 thousand hectares. This allowed officials to forecast a record gross harvest: around 1.1 million tons. It is important to note that the statistics of the food industry have not yet reflected data on the processing of such a large volume of this root crop. The processing period for the sugar beet harvest begins in autumn and lasts for several months. Therefore, the final results of the joint efforts of farming enterprises and sugar factories for 2024 will be known later.
According to information presented at a meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the current production capacities of the country's sugar factories "struggle to cope with the growing volumes of beet harvest." The country needs new enterprises. The government is ready to assist investors wishing to open sugar factories with subsidies, tax benefits, and credit resources.
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