CHINA LIFTS 19-YEAR BAN ON POULTRY IMPORTS FROM KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan has already entered into negotiations with China about the veterinary requirements farmers must comply with to begin exporting poultry products. For Kazakhstan, this [opening of the Chinese market] means creating new jobs and increasing production volume. In the long run, the move is expected to boost Kazakh poultry production, though, in the short term, the country is braced for a possible shortage in the domestic market owing to continuing turbulence in neighboring Russia. Ruslan Sharipov, the president of the Kazakh Union of Poultry Manufacturers, warned against being too upbeat about export prospects. He stressed that it would take time to negotiate all technical details with China.
In the short term, Kazakh customers must be ready for a temporary shortage of poultry products. The country imports 13% of poultry from Russia, where the broiler meat and eggs market has been in turbulence for the past few months, and occasionally, some products have disappeared from grocery shelves. Besides, Russian authorities have previously banned the transit of US poultry through its territory, citing bird flu fears. On the other hand, the Kazakh poultry producers in the previous years urged the authorities to restrict imports to give them a chance to scale up operations.
(Link: Vietnamagriculture)
RUSSIA SAYS IT HAS COMPLETED FREE GRAIN INITIATIVE
The Russian government on Feb. 20 claimed to have kept its promise to ship 200,000 tonnes of free grain to six African countries, Reuters reported. During a summit with African leaders in July 2023, Putin vowed to send the free grain to Maili, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic. Putin said at the time that one of the reasons Russia withdrew from the grain deal was that the initiative, which had allowed Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea despite the ongoing war between the two countries, was failing to ship grain to the countries that needed it most. Feb. 22 is the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has hindered Ukraine’s ability to produce and export grain, causing a shift in trade flows for wheat, corn, and other agricultural commodities.
(Link: WorldGrain)
