Official customs data shows that China imported 13.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas (bcm) during the month of June, a 19 percent increase over the import level during the same month in 2022. Global imports arrived in China via pipelines and in liquefied form. Overall, 5.785 bcm of gas was imported via pipelines in June, a slight increase over the previous month’s totals. The main suppliers via pipelines were Turkmenistan (2.69 bcm), Russia (1.9 bcm), Kazakhstan (610 million cubic meters) and Uzbekistan (370 mcm). Kazakhstan Kazakh agricultural officials are striving to remove obstacles to exports of foodstuffs to China.
The Agriculture Ministry’s press service reported that Kazakh officials met with representatives of China’s customs service to discuss logistical issues that have impeded exports. An Agriculture Ministry official, Baurzhan Abyzbaev, expressed Kazakhstan’s readiness to conduct an “audit of the veterinary service system.” In addition, Kazakh authorities expressed interest in boosting exports of rapeseed, peas and lentils to China. Meanwhile, wheat exports from Kazakhstan to China have rebounded over the past year, but they still lag behind totals from 2020-21. During the 10-month “marketing period” of 2022-23, Kazakhstan exported 273,000 tons of wheat, compared with only 22,380 tons during the previous year’s marketing period. The most recent figures still trail the over 301,000 tons that Kazakhstan shipped to China in 2020-21.
According to the state company QazTrade, the average price of wheat shipped to China from Kazakhstan in 2022-23 was $270 per ton, an amount 13 percent lower than the 2021-22 figure of $310 per ton.