The first edition
The first Caspian & Central Asia Grain Forum ran at the International Hotel Tashkent from 25 to 27 October 2022, with the official support of the Union of Grain Exporters of Russia. More than 130 delegates attended over the three days.
Nine markets were in scope: Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran — markets tied together by long-standing trade in flour, grains and vegetable oils, and by the fact that most of them have no coastline.
What was discussed
Thirteen speakers across four business sessions worked through export restrictions and quotas, competition in the milling industry, railway and container logistics, climate outlooks for the coming season, and the freight markets of the Black, Mediterranean and Caspian seas.
The delegate list matched the agenda: trading companies, grain terminals, transport operators, shipping lines, banks, industry associations and government institutions. Rail and container capacity determines what these markets can ship, and the terminal and transport operators took part in the sessions rather than sitting through them.
What it established
The Grain Gala Dinner and a networking day across Tashkent closed the programme, from the new Tashkent City quarter to the medieval Old Town. The edition established the platform that moved to Samarkand the following year.
