The Kazakh company Altyn Astyk Group signed three agreements during the Kazakh-Chinese grain forum on June 5. It is planned to supply safflower to China and build a feed processing plant.
A $20 million safflower supply agreement was signed with biotechnology company Alashankou Jin Mu, a Xinjiang import and export company.
“We have been working with these companies for 3-4 years. They are our main customers, and now we have the opportunity to sign a contract within this forum. Every year we already supply them with about 50 thousand tons,” the head of the enterprise, Artur Akhmetov, told the ElDala.kz portal.
In addition, an agreement was signed with the Chinese company Famsun (supplier of equipment and engineering services for agricultural production) on the construction of a feed processing plant in Kazakhstan. Estimated investments will reach $5-7 million.
“We want to launch a pilot project with Famsun on a system of investment projects in installments. Perhaps, after us, there will be farmers who will work under the same conditions. First, we will receive a commercial proposal from the Chinese side for the cost of the plant, and then we will determine how much will be needed for the down payment and the investment repayment schedule,” said Artur Akhmetov.
He noted the prospects of launching processing, given that today China needs about 80 million tons of feed flour.
Altyn Astyk Group also entered into an agreement with Famsun for the supply of irrigation systems for 4 thousand hectares in the Almaty region. Moreover, the head of the enterprise proposes to launch a national project for the supply of equipment, which could include Famsun.
“We could make a project so that the government would have some guarantees in the form of support for farmers in the supply of agricultural equipment. Not every farmer has the funds to rent or purchase equipment. And if such a program appears, it will become more affordable, since the prices for Famsun equipment are more or less acceptable compared to European and American ones,” added Artur Akhmetov.
In addition, within the framework of the grain forum, Altyn Astyk Group, the Grain Union of Kazakhstan and Famsun signed an agreement on strategic cooperation. As part of the agreement, the Chinese side undertakes to work with buyers of Grain Union products, advertise and promote grain trading services.