ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN — Kazakhstan plans to build a railroad grain terminal in Iran and on the Kazakh-Chinese border, the Kazakh Agriculture Ministry said on April 10.

"The construction of rail grain terminals in Gorgan (Turkmen- Iranian border) and the Dostyk-Alashankou railway station (Kazakh-Chinese border) are considered as promising projects for investment in the infrastructure of Kazakh grain export," the Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the terminal in Gorgan will increase Kazakh grain exports to the Iranian market, and the terminal at the Dostyk-Alashankou station will promote Kazakh grain exports to China.

Moreover, the ministry said that Kazakhstan transshipped about 8.4 million tonnes of grain including flour in grain equivalent in the period from July 1, 2011 to April 1, 2012.

Kazakhstan is among the world’s largest grain exporters. In 2011, the country had a record harvest of nearly 27 million tonnes of grain in net weight. Kazakhstan grain export potential was earlier estimated at 15 million tonnes in the current marketing year.