Kazakhstan, the world's seventh-largest wheat exporter last season, has invested heavily in its grain infrastructure to increase access to new markets and reduce its dependence on expensive supplies across Russia.

Kazakh grain, though of high quality, is often uncompetitive against supplies from Russia and Ukraine due to the high cost of delivering it to port. Exporters frequently encounter a shortage of rail cars and can incur high fees leasing Russian wagons.

Kazakhstan plans to export 8 million tons of grain this season. Around half will go to Central Asia and Afghanistan, 2 million tons to the Caucasus region and 2 million tons to Russia, Iran and other countries, the Agriculture Ministry says.

Drought has contributed to a forecast 30-35 percent decline in this year's grain crop, but Kazakhstan still expects to boost its harvests in the long term by investing in new technologies.

Following is a list of Kazakhstan's major projects to expand and diversify its grain export infrastructure:

ktau, Kazakhstan
The Food Contract Corporation operates a grain terminal in the Caspian Sea port of Aktau, with nominal capacity to load 50,000 tons a month, or 600,000 tons a year. In peak months for export, it can load up to 75,000 tons.

Grain is delivered across the Caspian Sea, mainly to Iran and Azerbaijan.

Beineu, Kazakhstan

State agricultural holding Kazagro and the Grain Union of Kazakhstan in June launched a new grain terminal in Beineu, a town in the Mangistau region of western Kazakhstan.

The complex, which includes an elevator and flour mill, can handle between 1.5 million and 2 million tons of grain per year. Grain and flour can be transported into Uzbekistan, only 100 km (63 miles) away, and a rail link is being constructed across western Turkmenistan into Iran.

Baku, Azerbaijan
The Food Contract Corporation is a joint venture partner in a grain terminal in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. The terminal has capacity to handle 750,000 tons a year of grain and can store up to 15,000 tons at a time. It also has a flour mill.

The corporation abandoned an earlier plan to build a terminal in the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti.

Amirabad, Iran
The Food Contract Corporation is a joint venture partner in a grain terminal in the Iranian port of Amirabad. The terminal, officially opened in June, has can handle up to 1 million tons per year and store up to 53,000 tons of grain at a time.

The port will allow for a quicker turnaround of vessels plying the Caspian Sea. It now takes about a week for a ship to deliver grain from Aktau to Amirabad and return. Previously, a single ship could make such a journey only twice per month.

China
The Food Contract Corporation is in talks with China about construction of a grain terminal on the Kazakh-Chinese border. Kazakhstan wants to supply grain both to China itself and onward to South Korea, Japan, Singapore and other Asian countries.

Some trial shipments have taken place, but the project faces obstacles. China and Kazakhstan operate different rail gauges. China wants its grain to be delivered in 50 kg sacks, while South Korea wants it delivered in containers, said Kazybek Omarov, director of the corporation's commercial department. One proposal envisages construction of a single terminal on the border, comprising a packing line and an elevator capable of storing 25,000 tons of grain.

About 1 million tons per year of grain could be moved via this route, should both countries agree on construction of the terminal. (Reuters)