Kazakhstan's standing with the Almighty may not be quite as favourable as the country has hoped, if its cereals crop is anything to go by.

Alexander Solyulev, a senior executive at the central Asian country's state grain buying organisation, said that the grain harvest would come in at 17.0m-17.3m tonnes this year.

While greater than last year's 15.6m-tonne harvest, the figure falls short of the expectations of deputy agriculture minister Arman Yevniyev, who in June said that the former Soviet country "definitely [has] all the reason to believe" in a crop of up to 18.7m tonnes.

"Divine forces are probably on our side," Mr Yevniyev said.

Landlocked 

Mr Solyulev, first deputy chief executive of Kazakhstan's Food Contract Corporation, added that exports also look likely to come in at 7.0m-8.0m tonnes, up 14.8% year on year but at the bottom end of the range that the agriculture ministry had forecast.

Nearby countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan and Turkey, would again take the bulk of exports, he added.

While Kazakhstan is planning extra facilities on the Chinese border to encourage exports further east, the country's export opportunities are limited by its lack of access to the sea. To ship grain requires using Russian and Ukraine Black Sea ports.

'Six weeks of dryness'

Mr Yevniyev's upbeat comments earlier on Kazakhstan's grain production followed spring rains viewed as beneficial for crops.

However, much of Kazakhstan received little rain in late June or early July, a period viewed as crucial in determining crop yields.

Rain in late July in the Kostanai and Akloma regions, where about one half of the country's wheat is grown, "prevented further yield deterioration", US agriculture official said earlier this month, following a crop tour.

"But [it] did not reverse the loss of potential yield for fields that suffered from six consecutive weeks of dryness."

The US report added that farmers would receive some recompense for the yield loss, with the dry weather boosting protein content.

"However, traders indicate that the boost in grain quality will not compensate economically for the loss in yield," the note said.