Uzbek buyers are traditionally interested in grain that can be used as an improver for ordinary wheat. In 2023, Kazakhstan received a small amount of high-quality wheat, which stimulates price growth.
According to traders, over the past week, hi-pro c wheat with gluten of at least 28% has risen in price from $330 to $335 per ton (DAP Saryagash).
However, such grain is scarce, and farmers are not ready to give it away cheaply. Most likely, this will lead to a further increase in export prices for quality wheat for Central Asia.
For ordinary grain with 23-24% gluten, they offer $280 per ton, but the demand for it is not so high. Uzbekistan itself has received a sufficient harvest of ordinary wheat, and the required volume can be imported from Russia.
As for non-grade wheat, the price for Central Asia is at $145 per ton (growth of no more than 20%). It can be sold more profitably to China, but since the end of last year there have been supply problems in this direction - China does not unload trains on time, and the KTZ company has banned the acceptance of new cargo until the end of January. The latest deliveries of "non-class" to China were priced at $170-175 (DAP Alashankou).
Let us note that on Tuesday, world prices for wheat fell sharply. March futures on the US stock exchange fell by 3% to $5.78 per bushel ($211 per ton).