AKIPRESS.COM - New data from Kazakhstani Statistical has led the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lower its estimate for wheat production in the country during the 2016-17 market year, reports World Grain News.

In a Feb. 6 Global Agricultural Information Network report, the FAS said wheat production in Kazakhstan is now expected to total 15 million tonnes, down from an earlier forecast of 16.5 million tonnes, and compared with production of 13.748 million tonnes in 2015-16.

Total grain production, meanwhile, is estimated at 20.6 million tonnes, up 10% from 2015-16.

“MY 2016-17 wheat consumption is estimated to increase 6% over the previous year,” the FAS noted in its report. “This is largely due to the poor quality wheat crop experienced this year and the resulting increasing use of wheat for feed.

“Wheat FSI consumption remains flat at 4.8 million tonnes as no major projects for industrial wheat processing were announced over the last year.”

The FAS noted that as of Jan. 1, barley consumption in Kazakhstan was up 30%, reflecting an increased use of barley for both feeding and food. The agency indicated that barley FSI consumption for the 2016-17 market year remains flat with no major projects for barley industrial processing in the works.

Several new grain storage projects are planned for northern Kazakhstan in 2017, including a grain storage facility in the Pavlodar region valued at $2.5 million, the FAS said. The elevator is planned for commissioning in late 2017, and capacity of the facility is 60 tons of grain per hour and storage capacity is 30,000 tons of grain. The FAS said another grain storage facility is reportedly under construction in Kostanai and is scheduled for completion in October 2017. The cost of the project is reported at $79 million and it will have a capacity of 8,000 tons.