Kazakhstan’s barley exports fall as lentil and flaxseed shipments set records
Kazakhstan exported 1.17 million tonnes of barley in September-May 2025/26, down 35% year on year, as shipments to Iran and China declined. Lentil and flaxseed exports reached records of 394,900 tonnes and 1.08 million tonnes, respectively.
Barley shipments lose pace
Kazakhstan exported 68,100 tonnes of barley in May 2026, 25% less than in April, according to ZOL. Cumulative shipments for the first nine months of the 2025/26 marketing year, from September through May, totaled 1.17 million tonnes. That was 35% below the corresponding period of the previous season, reflecting weaker sales in several of the country’s established markets.
Exports to Iran, the largest destination in the reported data, halved to 569,400 tonnes from 1.14 million tonnes a year earlier. ZOL linked the decline to strong competition from Russian barley and the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East. Shipments to China fell 32% to 295,200 tonnes. Azerbaijan bought no Kazakh barley, compared with 34,600 tonnes in the previous marketing year, while deliveries to Iraq dropped more than 15.6-fold, from 14,100 tonnes to 900 tonnes.
Growth in neighboring Central Asian markets only partly offset those losses. Exports to Uzbekistan increased 1.5-fold to 195,300 tonnes from 130,600 tonnes, and shipments to Tajikistan rose 32.7% to 90,000 tonnes. Russian-source data cited by ZOL showed that Kazakhstan also imported 242,300 tonnes of barley from Russia during September-May. May imports were 9,000 tonnes, 4.2 times lower than in April.
The nine-month export volume represented 81% of the revised full-season projection. The forecast for Kazakhstan’s 2025/26 barley exports was raised by 150,000 tonnes to 1.45 million tonnes despite the year-on-year contraction recorded so far.
Lentil exports reach a new high
Lentil trade moved in the opposite direction. Kazakhstan exported 24,000 tonnes in May, an increase of 14% from April. September-May shipments reached a record 394,900 tonnes, up 47% year on year and 20% above exports for the whole of the previous marketing year, which had itself been the highest on record.
Turkey accounted for 347,100 tonnes, or 88% of total lentil exports, after increasing its purchases almost 2.3-fold. Kazakhstan also shipped 20,200 tonnes to China, compared with 1,000 tonnes during the entire previous season. Afghanistan received 7,300 tonnes, Azerbaijan 3,500 tonnes and Kyrgyzstan 1,500 tonnes. Smaller volumes went to markets across Central Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The full-season lentil export forecast was increased by 30,000 tonnes to a record 470,000 tonnes.
Flaxseed flows shift toward China and the EU
Flaxseed exports declined 39% month on month in May to 71,300 tonnes, according to Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics, but the seasonal total remained historically high. Shipments in September-May reached 1.08 million tonnes, 2.38 times the year-earlier volume and 2.05 times exports during the whole previous marketing year.
China purchased 429,100 tonnes and Belgium 309,500 tonnes. Together they represented 68% of Kazakhstan’s flaxseed exports. Deliveries also rose to Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Estonia and Italy. ZOL associated the expansion in EU demand with the bloc’s import tariff on Russian flaxseed, which increased to 20% in 2025 and 50% in 2026.
Chinese customs data put the country’s total flaxseed imports at 1.26 million tonnes in August-May, up 53%. Russia supplied 726,700 tonnes, or 58%, while Kazakhstan supplied 386,700 tonnes, or 30.8%. In the preceding season, their respective shares were 75.2% and 21%. EU surveillance data showed flaxseed imports of 683,700 tonnes between July 1, 2025 and June 28, 2026. Kazakhstan held a 72% share with 495,200 tonnes, while Russia supplied 84,100 tonnes, or 12.3%. Kazakhstan’s full-season flaxseed export forecast was raised by 100,000 tonnes to 1.25 million tonnes; 86% of that volume had already been shipped by the end of May.
