July 29, 2026
We sat down for a chat about Kazakhstan's lentil crop this year, with the CEO of Atameken Agro, Kintal Islamov. We talked about the wartime choke hold on logistics, a downturn in acres for 2026, and the mystery of Kazakhstan's missing 300 KMT of lentils.
It's very difficult to talk about the whole of Kazakhstan because there is something wrong with the statistics. According to official statistics, last year we harvested 776 KMT, but exports were 440 KMT. There's a missing 300 KMT.
What I know is that we don't have such big stocks in Kazakhstan at the moment — I expect we don't have more than 100 KMT, I think maybe it's 50-60 KMT.
We don't have any statistics for this year, but when I travel around to the growing areas and visit farms, I can see that we have planted fewer lentils than last year.
READ THE FULL ARTICLEA smaller lentil area is expected in Kazakhstan this season as some growers switch to oilseeds and cereals, while domestic processors continue expanding capacity.
Ongoing logistics disruptions across the Black Sea have complicated Kazakhstan's pulse exports, forcing traders to seek alternative routes while hoping shipping conditions improve before year-end.
Kazakhstan / Central Asia / pulses crop outlook / production / exports / logistics / processing / agricultural trade
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