Tajikistan’s flour mills are able to produce wheat flout twice as much as country’s annual requirements in flour.
According to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies (MoINT), millers operating in the country are able to fully meet domestic annual requirements in wheat flour.
“47 flour mills with a total annual capacity of 1.9 million tons now operate in the country, which is more than two times more than this year’s country’s annual requirements in wheat flour, which are determined at 800,800 tons” an official source at a MoINT told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, domestic flour mills produce more than 1,800 tons of wheat flour per day.
Kazakhstan and Russia provide the bulk of Tajikistan’s wheat imports.
According to data from the MoINT, Tajikistan has produced 110,000 tons of wheat flour over the first two months of this year.
Besides, Tajikistan has imported 14,600 tons of wheat flour over the same two-month period.
“Including last year’s remains, a total volume of wheat flour in the country’s market over the report period has amounted to 171,700 tons, which was 27 percent more than the requirements, which are determined at 133,500 tons,” the source added.
Last year domestic millers reportedly met the country’s annual requirements in wheat flour for 2019 (710,000 tons) fully. Moreover, Tajikistan last year exported more than 3,100 tons of wheat flour to neighboring countries.
Recall, panic-buying over coronavirus fears caused food price hikes and shortages. On March 4, people rushed to bazaars to stockpile foodstuffs, causing sudden price hikes and shortages of flour and other staples. According to some source, a 50-kilogram sack of flour used to cost around 220 somoni, it was selling at Dushanbe’s bazaars for 380 somoni.
Prices began to return to normal on March 5.
The panic-buying followed a decision to suspend mosque prayers as a precaution against the spreading of the coronavirus in Tajikistan.
The government also canceled traditional public festivities related to the upcoming Navrouz celebrations in the capital, Dushanbe.
No confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Tajikistan.
