ASTANA – Kazakhstan exported a record 8.87 million tons of wheat from September 2025 to August 2026, as strong demand from Central Asian markets and Afghanistan helped drive shipments to the highest level on record, according to the Grain Union of Kazakhstan. The figure represents a 16.2% increase from the same period last year, said Yevgeniy Karabanov, head of the union’s Analytics Committee.
The export surge coincided with growing railway shipments of grain. According to the Ministry of Transport, 10.8 million tons of grain were transported across Kazakhstan’s railway network in January–September, up 12% from the same period last year. Export-bound grain shipments reached 8.4 million tons, an increase of 14%.
Central Asia remains the main destination Central Asian markets accounted for the majority of Kazakhstan’s wheat exports in the 2025/26 marketing year. Kazakhstan shipped nearly seven million tons of wheat to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan, representing 78.7% of total wheat exports.
Uzbekistan alone accounted for 60.8% of all shipments. Railway data for January–September shows a similar concentration of grain flows toward the region. Kazakhstan transported 5.5 million tons of grain by rail to Central Asian countries, 33% more than a year earlier.
Uzbekistan received 4.11 million tons, up 44%, while shipments to Tajikistan rose 16% to 1.18 million tonnes. Smaller volumes were sent to the Kyrgyz Republic and Turkmenistan. Demand from Afghanistan also remained strong. Wheat exports to the country increased 2.6 times over the marketing year, according to the Grain Union.
The ministry reported that 762,000 tons of grain were transported by rail to Afghanistan in January–September, 4.3 times more than during the same period of 2025. Kazakhstan also recorded sharp increases in wheat shipments to several markets outside its traditional destinations.
Exports to Iran increased 617 times, while shipments to Türkiye rose 27 times and those to Russia 12 times. Exports to Uzbekistan increased 42%, Tajikistan 5.7% and the United Kingdom threefold. Kazakh wheat also entered markets that had not received shipments during the previous marketing year.
Around 6,000 tons were exported to France and 23,600 tons to Tunisia. At the same time, exports to several destinations declined. Shipments to Turkmenistan fell to 28,000 tons, while exports to Azerbaijan decreased to 220,000 tons, Italy to 242,200 tons and Georgia to 39,400 tons.
Exports to China fell more than fourfold to 43,200 tons. Karabanov said the decline was offset by a 1.43 million-ton increase in shipments of feed meal to China, up 65%. Railway data, meanwhile, points to continued growth in grain flows to China, with 750,000 tons transported there in January–September, 54% more than a year earlier.