Social food prices decline for the fourth week in a row in Kazakhstan
The situation with prices for socially important food products for a week was discussed on Saturday, 22 June, at a meeting in the Government chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration reports.
The downward trend in prices for a group of 10 goods continues: buckwheat groats - 0.9%, sunflower oil - 0.5%, cabbage - 0.4%, beef, salt and sugar - 0.3%, rice - 0.2%, cones, cottage cheese and flour - 0.1%. As noted by First Vice Minister of Trade and Integration Aizhan Bizhanova, prices decreased in 8 regions, of which the most significant - in Ұlytau (0.8%), Aktobe (0.6%) and Atyrau (0.5%). In general, during the week, the decrease in the average price index for social food products was 0.1 per cent. This indicator is fixed for the fourth week in a row. For the month, the dynamics amounted to 0.3%.
Vice-Minister of Agriculture Yerbol Taszhurekov announced the progress of contracting of early harvest in the regions. Three megacities - Astana, Almaty, Shymkent - have already started to conclude direct contracts with agricultural producers from seven regions of the country to supply vegetables at stable prices in the off-season.
Astana has already concluded forward contracts for 15 thousand tonnes of vegetables: potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots. Shymkent - for 7.5 thousand tonnes, Almaty - for 16 thousand tonnes. Deliveries are planned for June-July, September-April. Additional forward contracts will also be concluded for the supply of autumn harvest", - informed the Vice-Minister.
Yerbol Taszhurekov also noted that the regions need to comply with the terms and conditions of financing outlined in the rules for the implementation of mechanisms to stabilise prices of socially important food products, including the requirement to allocate 70% of funding to agricultural producers and processing enterprises.
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Kazakhstan, China expand road transportations
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The Senate of the Kazakh Parliament has ratified the Agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan and China on international road transportations, Kazinform News Agency reports.
"China is one of the key trade partners of Kazakhstan," senator Andrey Lukin said presenting the document.
In recent years, we have observed a stable tendency of growth of road transportations between the two countries. In 2023, the volume of goods transported by road made 1.8 million tons, which is two times higher against 2022 (708,000 tons)," the senator said.
Given the significant dynamics of development of the bilateral relations, the governments of Kazakhstan and China entered into the agreement on international road transportations in May 2023, in Xi’an, as part of the Kazakh President’s visit to China.
According to Lukin, the document aims at creating favorable conditions for road transportations between the two countries.
The agreement regulates passenger and cargo transportations, requirements to drivers, as well as issues related to insurance, taxation and control at checkpoints.
The Agreement also regulates the norms of implementation of IT and improvement of the conditions for transportations, providing for the possibility of the passage of the carriers deep into the territories of Kazakhstan and China. Domestic carriers will be able to reach major cargo-generating cities and international seaports of China," Andrey Lukin said.
At the same time, under the Agreement, the bilateral and transit transportation of goods and transportations to third countries will be carried out on a quota-based permit system.
This will let regulate equal participation of the two countries’ carriers in road transportations.
According to the senator, Chinese carriers will be able to transport cargo through the territory of Kazakhstan to the countries of Europe and Asia, which, in turn, will increase Kazakhstan's transit potential.
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Industrial production in Kazakhstan reaches 19.4 trillion tenge in early 2024
In the first five months of 2024, Kazakhstan's industrial sector grew significantly, hitting 19,406.7 billion tenge in total industrial production. Significant contributions from the mining and industrial industries propelled this rise, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports citing Bureau of National Statistics.
45.9% of all industrial production, or 8,901.5 billion tenge, came from the mining sector. Of the total, the manufacturing sector accounted for 8,950.2 billion tenge, somewhat more than the mining industry. In comparison to the same period previous year, the mining and quarrying industry's Industrial Production Index (IPI) was 100.6%. This growth was driven by increases in the extraction of natural gas by 3.8%, metallic ore by 6.5%, and mining industry services by 10.6%.
A positive IPI of 105.2% was recorded in the manufacturing sector year over year, indicating growth in a number of sub-sectors: manufacturing climbed by 5.8% in the chemical industry, 13.5% in the manufacturing of basic medicinal items and preparations, and 7.5% in metallurgy. Excluding machinery and equipment, finished metal products increased by 28.4%, machinery manufacture increased by 14.7%, and other finished goods output nearly doubled, growing by 90%.
The production, transmission, and distribution of electricity increased by 7.2%, while the production and pipeline-based distribution of gaseous fuels increased by 7%, contributing to the energy sector's IPI of 106.1%. However, with an IPI of 99.8%, the water supply, waste management, and pollution remediation sectors showed a minor dip. The reasons behind this were a reduction of 1.4% in garbage collection, treatment, and disposal and a 0.9% drop in water collection, treatment, and delivery.
In fifteen regions of Kazakhstan, industrial production grew on a regional basis. Significant expansion was noted in the Aktobe area and the city of Astana. On the other hand, output decreased in the districts of Atyrau, Zhetysu, and Zhambyl as well as in the cities of Almaty and Shymkent.
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Brand new car sales in Kazakhstan decline in May
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According to the Kazakhstan Automobile Union (KAU), in May 2024, official dealers sold 12,032 units of cars and light commercial vehicles, as well as 781 trucks and buses in May 2024. This represents a 13.2% decrease compared to May last year, Kazinform News Agency reports.
A total of 66,457 vehicles were sold in the first five months of 2024, which is 0.1% more than in the same period in the previous year.
The 2024 sales figures were on par with those of the previous year, but the figures continued declining in May. The market is getting back to a normal, as it should be. We forecast sales at the level of 160,000 to 165,000 new cars this year. In turn, official dealers are continuing promotions and lucrative offers in order to encourage people to purchase new vehicles. However, the illegal importation of the older vehicles continues to grow," Anar Makasheva, KAU president, stated.
Hyundai maintains the top position in the top 10 bestselling cars with 2,424 units sold, representing a 44% decrease compared to May last year. Kia continues to hold the second position with 1,903 cars sold, a 13.4% decline. Chevrolet is third with 1,345 units sold, a 59.2% decrease. For the first time this year, Jac has secured the fourth position with 1,028 units sold, representing a 396.6% increase. Chery was fifth in May with 929 cars sold, a 39.7% increase. The next items on the list are Changan (679; +31.3%), Jetour (664), Haval (592; -5.4%), Toyota (571; +14.2%), and Geely (450; +74.4%).
After five months, Hyundai (14,760; -15%) leads the brand standings, with Kia in the second place with 8,541 cars sold (-13.4%) and Chevrolet in the third place with 6,159 cars sold (-65.1%). Chery dealers sold 5,428 cars, representing a 60.9% increase. In fifth place is Jac, which sold 4,022 units, an increase of 165.8%.
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