Kazakhstan suspends livestock exports to tackle increased meat prices and raw material shortages in plants
Last year 156 thousand heads of cattle were exported from Kazakhstan. The majority of 121.6 thousand heads or 78% - were exported to Uzbekistan, while Armenia accounted for 14% of the total livestock exports of the country, the Kazakh agriculture ministry reports.
Almost 264 thousand heads of sheep were exported from the country, of which more than half were breeding stock, with Uzbekistan being the main importer - over 200 thousand sheep (76%), followed by the Russian Federation - 21.5 thousand heads (8.1%), Azerbaijan - 18 thousand (6.7%), Iran - about 12 thousand (4.5%).
The massive export of livestock for further processing and resale resulted in speculative price increases for meat products, along with an increase in the negative effects on output. .
On average, in 2019 they were loaded less than half of their capacity largely because of the shortage of raw materials resulting from the high level of livestock export.
Since under the State Agro-Industrial Complex Development Programme for 2017-2021, the Ministry of Agriculture was tasked with increasing the export of processed products by 2.5 times, the Ministry was forced to take measures regarding the current situation. In this regard, based on appeals from feedlots and meat processing plants, it was decided to amend the joint order of the ministries of agriculture and finance “On some issues of export of farm animals” of 21 October 2019, which previously temporarily limited only the export of breeding stock. These changes place a ban on the export of livestock of cattle and small cattle of all age and gender groups.
The draft of the relevant document was positively agreed with industry expert organizations and Governor’s Offices, in the meantime a positive conclusion was received from Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs and approval of the Interdepartmental Commission on foreign trade policy and participation in international economic organizations. Currently, coordination is being carried out with willing government agencies.
The changes is expected to allow preserving and increasing the number of Kazakhstan livestock in the coming years, loading domestic meat processing plants with high-quality raw materials at affordable prices, and increasing the production and export of finished processed products.
