Kazakhstan plans to export wheat to Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Beineu grain terminal. Last week, together with Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, the terminal was visited by delegations from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
“Afghan representatives discussed the prospects for grain supplies through the terminal with the head of the Food Corporation and the management of the Beyneu terminal. In particular, the possibility of organizing a key and stable route for the export of Kazakh wheat through the Beineu terminal to Afghanistan and Pakistan is being considered,” the press service reported.
To implement the plans, it is necessary to build additional warehouses in border areas and establish logistics through the territory of Turkmenistan. The government noted that interested parties intend to work out the details of creating a new export route for the supply of Kazakh grain.
The Beyneu terminal, with an area of 26 hectares, located on the territory of the Mangistau region, has direct access to the Kazakh-Turkmen border. This is a promising logistics hub with 8 km of railway tracks and its own rolling stock. The terminal can simultaneously store 100 thousand tons of grain, receive up to 500 wagons per day, and send up to 2 million tons per year in packaged form and grain carriers. In the future, capacity will be expanded.
There is also a mill complex that allows the production of 320 tons of flour and 80 tons of bran per day. The equipment is currently being modernized, after which two flour production lines with a total capacity of 400 tons per day will be launched. The production of compound feed at a capacity of 80 tons per day has been established. After modernization, the capacity will be increased to 240 tons daily.
In addition, at the first transport trade and export forum held in Aktau, representatives of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan discussed the possibilities of building a new railway line Turgundi - Herat - Kandahar - Spin Buldak, which will run from the western border of Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and further to India. According to the head of the Agency of Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan, Mammetkhan Chakyev, the Turkmen side has already agreed with their Afghan colleagues on the creation of a logistics center in Turgundi and intends to begin construction in the near future. He invited Kazakhstan to take part in the construction of the railway.
It is also planned to build facilities for transshipment of grain, containers and other cargo.
“We are pleased to welcome proposals for the joint implementation of a new railway route and to hear that Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have plans to build the Turgundi-Herat road. It is very important when the parties to the project join forces. We support the idea of Turkmenistan, this is actually the beginning of the construction of a western corridor through Afghanistan to Pakistan and further to India,” noted Serik Zhumangarin.