The Association of Legal Entities "Grain Union of Kazakhstan" and APK-Inform Agency announced the third international conference "KazakhGrainExport 2019", to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, on September 19-20.

Traditionally, Kazakhstan still remains the leading player on the global grain market, and takes place not only in the TOP-15 of the global producers of wheat, but also in the TOP-10 of the global exporters of the grain. At the same time, the annual dynamic growth of exports of major grains and oilseeds allows Kazakhstan to strengthen its positions on the global market.

But why Istanbul?

Because the city is the largest commercial, economic, port and cultural center of Turkey. The favourable geographical location in two parts of the world — both Europe and Asia, as well as on the shores of the Bosporus, makes the city one of the largest hubs between the Black and Mediterranean Seas. There are three major international ports located in Istanbul, which justifiably allows the city to be considered as the business Mecca.

Participants of "KazakhGrainExport 2019" will be able not only to discuss the current market problems and establish new business contacts, but also to enjoy the landscapes of the majestic Bosporus.

Traditional and new sales markets

Taking into account the geographical location of Kazakhstan and various features of the logistics, countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan traditionally remain the main importers of Kazakh wheat. Also, Turkey is the fairly stable buyer, which is usually interested in high-quality indicators of the Kazakh grain. For several recent seasons, Kazakhstan increased the exports of wheat to Italy, including durum wheat, and the country already became the major importer of the grain from Kazakhstan. Also, we should specify China among the major importers, which for 3 recent seasons significantly increased the purchases of Kazakh wheat (up more than 1.5 times).

Nevertheless, despite the positive statistical dynamics in the grain sector, in Kazakhstan there are certain difficulties related to both the geographical position of the country and the resulting logistical difficulties, and with the high competition rates from the Russian Federation, which not only increases the exports of wheat from season to season, but also owns the well-developed port infrastructure.

At the same time, Kazakhstan continues actively developing the market of oilseeds, and increases not only the production, but also exports of raw materials and its by-products, especially taking into account the high demand of the EU countries (Poland, Belgium) and China.

According to APK-Inform figures, in the current MY the record production volumes of flaxseed in Kazakhstan continue keeping the high rates of the oilseed supplies on foreign markets. For 8 months of the season-2018/19 (September-April), the foreign supplies of the oilseed totaled nearly 404.6 thsd tonnes (up 37.25% compared with the figures for the same period in 2017/18 MY), which made Kazakhstan one of the global leaders in the exports of flaxseed. At the same time, Belgium traditionally remained the key buyer of Kazakh flaxseed.

In addition, in the segment of pulses it is worth noting the rapid growth of exports from Kazakhstan of such perspective crop as lentils, which shipments on foreign markets for 3 recent years increased in almost 3 times, and in 2018 the figures reached over 170 thsd tonnes. At the same time, the general export volumes for 3 recent years totaled nearly 330 thsd tonnes, including more than 85% of the shipments annually supplied to Turkey. In terms of keeping of the current rates of lentils production and trading, Kazakhstan can solidly consolidate its positions in the TOP-5 of the global leaders of the crop exports.

Within frames of the conference, the industry leaders from Kazakhstan and the world will share their experiences and opinions, and answer all questions from participants.

KEY TOPICS:

— Global trends of the grain market: impact of the economic, weather, geopolitical factors on the market development

— Current condition and development forecasts of the global durum wheat market

— Traditional and prospective export directions of Kazakh durum wheat

— New sales markets for Kazakh barley

— Development trends of the exports in the premium segment of Hi-pro wheat

— Prospects of the market of alternative oilseeds

— Development trends of the market of pulses: demand of the global market, prospects of Kazakhstan

— Key consumers of grains and oilseeds: features of consumers, prospects of Kazakh products

— Analysis of the situation in the infrastructure and logistics segments

Target audience: Kazakh exporters of major grains and oilseeds, importers of grains, pulses and oilseeds from the EU and Asian countries, experts of the global grain market, as well as representatives of logistics companies and industry associations.

Conference geography: Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran, China, European countries, Russia, Algeria, Morocco, etc.

Expected number of delegates — 150+.

Conference languages: English, Russian, Turkish. 

To date, the largest Kazakh companies — exporters of grains and oilseeds — already confirmed their further participation in the conference, including such companies as: AZK Esentai LLP, Atameken-Agro JSC, Baltic Contol Kazakhstan LLP, Caspian Logistic Solutions LLP, Fergus Kazakhstan LLP, Glencore Agriculture Kazakhstan LLP, Karasu-Astyk LLP, Grain Pool LLP, JSC National Company Food Contract Corporation, Severnoe Zerno LLP, and Syngenta Kazakhstan LLP.

As a reminder, in 2018 more than 100 representatives of grain business from 9 countries took part in the previous conference, which was held in Nur-Sultan (former Astana), on September 27-28.