Afghanistan becomes top buyer of Kazakh wheat flour as Astana subsidises transport
Afghanistan is now the undisputed leader in purchases of Kazakh wheat flour and is turning from a peripheral outlet into a driver of Kazakhstan's southern grain corridor, ZOL.ru reported. Astana subsidises transport costs on flour exports to Afghanistan at 16,338 tenge per tonne, and shipments to the country rose 57% in the first half of 2026. Kazakh millers face hard competition from Uzbekistan, which has built up its own processing industry.
Afghanistan becomes the anchor buyer
Afghanistan is turning from a peripheral destination into one of the potential drivers of Kazakhstan's southern grain corridor, the agricultural market portal ZOL.ru reported. It is currently the undisputed leader in purchases of Kazakh wheat flour. The position is not secure, however: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are locked in tough competition for Afghan demand.
That contest is no longer decided by milling quality alone. Kazakh millers today have to compete on the cost of logistics as well as on the quality of their product, according to ZOL.ru — a direct consequence of how the neighbouring market has changed.
Uzbekistan's processing build-out changed the equation
Over recent years Uzbekistan has methodically developed its own grain processing sector. It created favourable conditions for grain imports while at the same time protecting domestic flour production, ZOL.ru reported. The combination gives Uzbek mills access to raw material on advantageous terms and a sheltered home market, and it converts Uzbekistan from a buyer of Kazakh flour into a rival for the same Afghan customers.
For Kazakhstan the shift matters beyond flour volumes. Milling is the value-added end of the grain chain: losing it means exporting raw wheat and leaving the processing margin to somebody else's plants. Geography compounds the problem, because flour moving south to Afghanistan has to cross the territory of the competitor, putting transit and rail tariffs at the centre of the commercial fight.
A transport subsidy of 16,338 tenge per tonne
The Kazakh government has responded on the cost side. It has backed the industry by providing for subsidies on transport costs for flour exported to Afghanistan, set at 16,338 tenge per tonne, ZOL.ru reported. The measure addresses the weakest point of Kazakh exporters on this route rather than the quality of the product itself.
- Transport subsidy on flour exports to Afghanistan: 16,338 tenge per tonne
- Kazakhstan's exports of grain processing products in the first half of 2026: up 20%
- Deliveries to Afghanistan in the first half of 2026: up 57%
The effect is already visible. In the first half of 2026 Kazakhstan's exports of grain processing products rose by 20%, while deliveries to Afghanistan increased by 57%, ZOL.ru reported. Afghan-bound volumes are therefore growing at close to three times the pace of the processed-grain export category as a whole, which points to the subsidised route doing much of the work behind the headline figure.
The corridor question for Central Asia
"Our task is not to look for those to blame in the past, but to create conditions under which Kazakh flour will be competitive on foreign markets. Strong processing means an additional outlet for Kazakh grain, jobs and added value inside the country," said Zhandos Kuanyshev, first vice-president of JSC Astyk Trans and head of the logistics and inspection committee of the Grain Union of Kazakhstan.
Kuanyshev will take part in a discussion session at the VI International conference Asia Grains&Oils Conference in Tashkent 2026, to be held on 16 September in the Uzbek capital. The central question of the session is whether the region can convert the growing volume of grain produced in Central Asia into a manageable, competitive and diversified export corridor, with logistics, prices and forecasts on the agenda for traders, processors and producers alike.
