Kazakhstan's camel milk powder hits Chinese market despite COVID-19

Kang said consumers in Lanzhou can enjoy their camel milk powder within 24 hours after placing an order, while consumers from other regions can receive the products within a few days.

According to the statistics of Chinese customs, China imported 1.36 million tons of milk powder valued at $8.3 billion in 2019, jumping by 20.8 percent in volume and 15.5 percent in value over the previous year.

In the first four months of 2020, China's imports of milk powder continued to increase, reaching $3.1 billion, up 5.5 percent year on year.

Kang believed that as China's dairy consumption becomes more and more diversified, camel milk powder from Kazakhstan can provide Chinese consumers with more choices.

"For the dairy industry of Kazakhstan, the Chinese market offers a huge opportunity. Chinese consumers are getting to know camel milk powder, and the market size is developing. We have not yet obtained an export license for horse milk powder to the Chinese mainland. But the company is already actively promoting horse milk powder on the Chinese market," Merambekov said.

"At the end of this month, we will ship another three tons of camel milk powder to China. We are currently building a new milk powder factory in Almaty and buying new equipment to expand production capacity. We plan to increase the annual output of camel milk powder from 60 to 200-300 tons," said Elshin.