Kostanay Region
Virgin Lands campaign (1954) plowed steppe for wheat while revealing 92.6% of Kazakhstan's iron ore beneath. Hosts most wheat mills (39/197) plus massive iron ore expansion. By 2026, $1B+ investments test whether dual agriculture-mining economy can overcome labor migration to cities.
Kostanay emerged in 1879 as a Russian settlement on the Tobol River steppe, but its identity crystallized during Khrushchev's Virgin Lands campaign. From 1954, millions of hectares of Kazakh grassland were plowed for wheat, transforming pastoral nomadism into industrial agriculture. The same campaign discovered what lay beneath the soil: 92.6% of Kazakhstan's iron ore reserves, 98.2% of its bauxite, and 81.2% of its cobalt.
The region developed along two parallel tracks: above ground, the breadbasket identity with massive wheat farms supplying Soviet and then global markets; below ground, the mining complex that feeds Kazakhstan's steel industry. The city of Rudny exists because of iron ore—its very name means "ore town." Together these extractive logics created a regional economy where agriculture and mining comprise the vast majority of output.
By 2024, Kostanay Region hosts 39 of Kazakhstan's 197 authorized wheat mills—more than any other region. But mining drives investment: bauxite production rose 34.1%, pellet production 27.5%, iron ore concentrate 5.0% in 2024. The Lomo iron ore project targets 507 million tonnes of reserves, with the high-grade concentrate market forecast to grow 7.1% annually through 2030. Investment projects worth 461.6 billion tenge are scheduled for completion by 2025.
Through 2026, Kostanay will ride two commodity cycles simultaneously: grain prices and iron ore demand. The Virgin Lands legacy means aging Soviet-era infrastructure and climate vulnerability, while the mining boom requires infrastructure investment. Both sectors face labor constraints as populations migrate to cities, testing whether mechanization can compensate for demographic decline.