Kazakhstan’s new-crop market takes shape as analysts advise holding soft wheat
Kazakhstan’s grain, oilseed and pulse market entered August with buyers waiting for clearer harvest signals. Analysts recommended pausing soft wheat sales, selling sunflower seed and pulses, and marketing several other crops gradually.
Buyers wait for clearer harvest signals
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture published a grain, oilseed and pulse market review and forecast dated August 10, 2026, as the new-crop market began to form. According to Zol.ru, citing APK Novosti, analysts at the Grain and Oilseed Crops. Kazakhstan research bureau described the market as being at a low starting point, with importers and domestic processors maintaining a wait-and-see position.
Price indications are expected to become more reliable as harvesting accelerates and physical volumes reach elevators. Against that background, prices were mostly stable in early August, with limited local adjustments. The bureau’s recommendations differ by crop: stop selling soft wheat for now, market barley and durum gradually, sell sunflower seed and pulses promptly, and release selected oilseeds only as financial or operational needs arise.
Soft wheat sales put on hold
The bureau issued a “stop” recommendation across the soft wheat range. Third-class wheat with gluten content of 28 or more averaged 117 tenge per kilogram, up 2 tenge over the week, with a forecast potential of 145 tenge. Third-class wheat with gluten content up to 25 stood at 106 tenge, also 2 tenge higher, while wheat with gluten up to 23 remained unchanged at 101 tenge.
Fourth- and fifth-class wheat traded at 90 tenge per kilogram, with fourth-class wheat losing 5 tenge during the week. The analysts argued that current soft wheat prices were close to a local low and that producers should wait through peak harvest pressure. Durum and barley received a less restrictive “as needed” recommendation. Durum was quoted at 93–106 tenge per kilogram, while the upper forecast ranged from 120 to 140 tenge depending on protein content of 14 or more and 15 or more.
Sunflower seed and pulses face weaker price prospects
The oilseed and pulse market was moving sooner, with initial new-crop offers already appearing. In Kostanay Region, new-crop sunflower seed sales began at 220,000–225,000 tenge per tonne including VAT. The current reference price was 221 tenge per kilogram, and analysts placed its expected range at 180–240 tenge. Yellow peas were priced at 85 tenge, red lentils at 112 tenge and green lentils at 110 tenge per kilogram. Pea and lentil prices had fallen by 15 tenge over the week, supporting the recommendation to sell because no strong near-term price growth was expected.
For other oilseeds, the bureau advised gradual sales. Flaxseed was assessed at 203 tenge per kilogram, rapeseed at 225 tenge, safflower at 178 tenge, soybeans at 193 tenge and white mustard seed at 215 tenge. Forecast ceilings were 230 tenge for flaxseed, 250 tenge for soybeans and 260 tenge for mustard. The published prices are weighted averages at an elevator or in a railcar, including VAT, and can vary materially with region, grade, moisture, impurities and delivery terms. That leaves storage capacity, quality and logistics central to producers’ marketing decisions as the harvest expands.
