Kazakhstan Grain Crop Seen 26-31 Percent Lower In 2010

Sadly there is no word yet from "Stan" our man on the ground (I suspect that there isn't an internet cafe on every street corner in Kazakhstan), so we are going to have to run with official Ministry figures for the time being. Even they paint a pretty bleak picture.

First the good news, they say that the country exported 8.3 MMT of grains and flour in the 2009/10 marketing year, an increase of more than a third on the previous season.

Now the not so good news, exports in 2010/11 will drop to around 6.5 MMT.

Now the really bad news, the ongoing drought is set to cut this year's grain production to 14.5-15.5 MMT, down around 26-31% on last season.