In several regions of Kazakhstan, the price of potatoes has sharply increased. The government restricted the export of vegetables to third countries for six months. This was reported by Tengrinews here.
Due to increased demand and high export prices, especially by neighboring countries, including Uzbekistan, this year's potato exports increased by 1.5 times, from 411 thousand tons to 605 thousand tons. The strong demand also affected the domestic market. In the last week, a sharp increase in prices at producers oriented towards export (from 170 tenge to 270 tenge, approximately from 4,000 to 6,500 som) was observed, according to the government report.
The price of one kilogram of potatoes in Kazakhstan is up to 400 tenge (more than 9,500 som) and higher. In particular, in the city of Aktobe, at the beginning of January, one kilogram did not cost more than 200 tenge. The price doubled in the last week. Today, one kilogram of potatoes is sold in supermarkets for around 388 tenge (about 9,400 som). Even the price of spoiled potatoes has increased. Sellers explained this by each batch of the product being more expensive than the previous one.
To stabilize the prices in the domestic market and prevent unreasonable price increases, the export of potatoes to third countries is being restricted for 6 months.
