"Highlight of the Season": How China's Ban Made Kazakhstan's Feed Flour the Main Export Breakthrough of the Year

In the current marketing year, Kazakhstan's agro-industrial sector has witnessed an unprecedented surge in feed flour exports to China. This product, which previously played only a minor role in the country's export basket, has shown remarkable growth, becoming, in the words of expert Yevgeny Karabanov, the "highlight of the season". The projected export volume by year-end may exceed two million tonnes, setting an absolute record.

Reasons for the Unexpected Growth
The sharp rise in demand for Kazakh feed flour from China is no coincidence. It is a direct result of the Chinese authorities cracking down on violations in the import of feed wheat from Kazakhstan. Previously, Kazakh feed wheat was imported into China's so-called "bonded zones" — special economic areas with duty-free regimes. The plan was to process this raw material at feed mills inside these zones and then sell the finished feed to the domestic Chinese market.
However, as the expert notes, some importers engaged in serious violations. Instead of processing the grain, they began selling feed wheat as food-grade wheat to local flour mills. This led to two major breaches:
• Economic: Misuse of raw materials imported under a preferential regime.
• Criminal: Using feed wheat intended for livestock as food for humans.
In China, this is considered a serious crime, as the Communist Party strictly monitors the nation's health. Punishments can reach 10–12 years in prison, and in severe cases with harmful consequences — up to the highest penalty.
Once this scheme was shut down, feed mills in five northwestern Chinese provinces — which produce little grain of their own — faced a raw material shortage.

Economic Feasibility
Purchasing grain from other Chinese regions proved economically unviable for these mills. Domestic wheat prices in China hover around $300 per tonne, and transporting it from producing regions to the northwest adds another $40–50. In this situation, Kazakh feed flour became the perfect solution, priced between $240–250 per tonne.
In essence, it is milled feed wheat mixed with barley, which is intentionally added to increase the product’s ash content. This makes it impossible to use the flour for human consumption, fully eliminating previous regulatory risks for the Chinese side. Thus, Chinese plants obtained cheaper raw materials while transferring part of the technological process — grain milling — to Kazakh producers.

Impact on Kazakhstan's Industry
This sudden demand has had a powerful stimulating effect on Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial complex:
• Many idle mills were quickly repurposed for feed flour production.
• Active construction of new facilities began — according to the expert, one to two new plants are launched each month.
• As of today, 137 Kazakh enterprises have been accredited in China to supply feed flour, with at least as many awaiting accreditation.

This trend demonstrates how quickly business can adapt to new market conditions, turning regulatory changes in a neighboring country into a major economic opportunity for domestic producers.