Imports account for 70% of Kazakhstan’s sugar market

The industry remains import-dependent, with most demand met through processing imported raw cane sugar and direct imports of refined sugar, its report reads.

Targets set in the 2022–2026 Comprehensive Plan for Sugar Industry Development and the Agro-Industrial Development Concept have not yet been achieved — including sowing areas, gross harvest, sugar output, and self-sufficiency levels.

Even the record sugar beet harvest of 2024 did not fully load processing plants, as capacities are largely oriented toward imported cane sugar.

The Competition Protection and Development Agency identified inefficiencies in the commodity exchange model, noting cases where increased production by local producers was not matched by higher sales through exchanges.

Nine notifications were issued to wholesale sugar sellers for antitrust violations.

The Agency recommends developing a domestic raw material base and processing capacities, introducing long-term contracts between sugar factories and beet farms .

It is suggested to include measures in the competition roadmap for the sugar sector, assigning responsibilities to state agencies.

The Agency also suggests ensuring equal conditions for domestic and imported sugar circulation, monitoring re-export of imported sugar to third countries and tightening control over exchange trading and monitoring sugar re-exports.

Earlier, Kazakhstan introduced a six-month ban on wheat imports.