Kazakhstan is targeting to export one million tons of grains by July this year to Azerbaijan and Georgia, said the country’s Ministry of Agriculture. Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Gulmira Issayeva said there is an increasing demand for Kazakhstan’s high quality grains, which led to the rise in export volume. “It is also important that the prices for the Kazakh grain have gone up. There is an increase in the export values in both usual and new markets. It is very important for us to preserve Afghanistan and Central Asia markets,” she said. Kazakhstan is also exporting its grains to Iran, which will then be re-exported to third countries. Meanwhile, managing director of Food Contract Corporation Sabit Kashkimbayev said the expectation for the export value this year is around 10.5 million tons, which is about 500,000 to 600,000 tons higher than last year. “We increased the export values compared to previous years, accessed the markets of Azerbaijan and Georgia and increased shipment volumes to China. We have also entered the Turkmenistan market for the first time,” he said. The Kazakh Government is currently holding talks with China on the ways to increase the exports of grains. Issayeva said last year a total of 20.3 million tons of grains were harvested in Kazakhstan and the demand for locally produced grains continues to increase. The export volume of Kazakh grains to China totaled more than 560,000 tons last year. The country is set to boost the value to one million tons by 2020.