Kazakhstan hammers out plan to abandon US broiler imports

Kazakhstan aims to put an end to the decade-long dependence on foreign poultry supplies, primarily from the US. Photo: Canva

The Kazakh government has greenlit a plan to boost domestic poultry production by 200,000 tonnes through 2026 thanks to the expansion of 4 major broiler farms. The move will put an end to the decade-long dependence on foreign poultry supplies, primarily from the US.

Under the plan, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan will provide soft loans to prominent poultry farms Canadian Chicken Limited, Alel Agro, Prima Kus, and Aitas KZ to ramp up their production capacities in 2025 and 2026.

“Kazakhstan’s poultry production stands at 328,000 tonnes per year. The additional 200,000 tonnes will help resolve the import-dependence issue and kick off exports,” Kazakhstan’s prime minister’s office has said in a statement, adding that the Development Bank of Kazakhstan will fund 14 projects in the agricultural sector worth nearly 285 billion tenge (US$640 million) in total.

Over the past few years, Kazakhstan has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to its poultry industry, consistently increasing aid to poultry farmers and encouraging businesses to expand their production.

In 2023, for instance, 21.7 billion tenges (US$49 million) were spent from the national budget to support the poultry industry, including 21.4 billion tenges (US$48 million) to partly reimburse the cost along the value chain and 336.8 million tenges (US$1 million) for the purchase of breeding day-old young animals.

Food security on the line

The Kazakh authorities’ aim to make the country self-sufficient in poultry meat is driven by the need to ensure food security and stabilise prices in the face of price turbulence in neighbouring countries. In Russia, which shares a common market with Kazakhstan within the Eurasia Economic Union, the poultry market has been in turbulence since 2023, local economist Tulegen Askarov stated. Although Russian poultry holds a small share of Kazakh imports, the Kazakhstan market largely depends on the price dynamics of its northern trade partner.

Askarov recalled that retail prices soared due to a drop in production and huge exports, and now the same thing happened again.

The Russian National Union of Poultry estimated that poultry production in the country declined by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2024. In Siberia, the part of the country bordering Kazakhstan, output dropped by 6.7%.

On the other hand, in January-February 2024, Russian chicken exports picked up by 9% compared to last year, to 53,940 tonnes. “It turned out that poultry farming in Russia stepped on the same rake twice. Duty-free imports of eggs and poultry meat were re-opened, and at the beginning of this year, they increased by 16%. But exports were also encouraged,” Askarov said, adding that the price turbulence, which winded down in the Russian poultry market, is now visible again.