Kazakhstan Sees No Need for Potato Export Curbs as Harvest Forecast Holds at 2.8 Million Tonnes
With 2.5 million tonnes already dug and farm-gate prices at 90–100 tenge, Astana sees no grounds for last season's export ban.
Kazakhstan sees no grounds for restricting potato exports this season, Vice Minister of Agriculture Nazgul Khatepova said on 29 September, as the country’s harvest forecast holds at last year’s level.
The gross potato harvest is expected to reach 2.8 million tonnes, the same as in 2025, with 2.5 million tonnes already dug, Informburo quoted the vice minister as saying. Kazakhstan exported 388,000 tonnes last year, and the export potential for this season is again estimated at 400,000 tonnes.
“Restrictions were introduced repeatedly both last year and in previous years, linked to very strong demand from our traditional importers, in particular Uzbekistan. As of today, we see no grounds whatsoever for imposing any restrictions on potato exports,” Khatepova said.
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The statement marks a sharp contrast with January 2025, when retail prices in some regions exceeded 400 tenge per kilogram and the government banned potato exports for six months. The ban was lifted on 28 July 2025 after planted area was expanded and the harvest outlook improved. This autumn, farmers in the main producing regions of Karaganda and Pavlodar are selling potatoes from the field at 90–100 tenge per kilogram, the vice minister said. To balance export and domestic needs, the Ministry of Agriculture is pre-arranging purchase volumes with the Ministry of Trade, regional authorities and large retail chains so that farmers can ship surpluses abroad.
Operational data point to a solid campaign. Average yield stood at 255.2 centners per hectare in mid-September, well above 222.5 centners a year earlier, the ministry said in response to a query from APK News. Planted area in organized farms grew by 5,400 hectares to 89,900 hectares.
Why it matters
Kazakhstan is the dominant potato supplier to Central Asia, and its export policy directly shapes prices in Uzbekistan and the wider region. An unrestricted season with a 400,000-tonne export potential gives buyers in Tashkent and Bishkek predictable access to supply, while low farm-gate prices in Pavlodar and Karaganda — roughly half the national retail average — keep pressure on growers’ margins and make storage investment the decisive factor for winter earnings.
Kazakhstan’s supply dominance was already visible this summer, when Uzbekistan cut potato imports while Kazakhstan held 80% of supply.
Photo: Potato harvest in progress (illustrative). Narek75 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
