Miller Magazine Issue: 127 July 2020

69 INTERVIEW MILLER / JULY 2020 Due to the travel restrictions imposed by the corona- virus pandemic, the 2020 edition of IGC Grains Confer- ence, one of the most established events in the grains and oilseeds sector, was held as an online virtual confer- ence. The conference was hosted within the IGC Grain Conference Application, a user-friendly app appreciated by the attendees. The virtual conference comprises 13 sessions, 64 re-recorded video presentations, 39 Pow- erPoint presentations, 13 Q&A sessions on different themes including stimulating globalısation of the grains sector, policy initiatives to promote globalisation, climate change and integration in the grains value chain, trade finance and the latest grains, oilseeds and rice market developments. Nearly 400 delegates from more than 50 countries had registered for the event. The live Q&A ses- sions were filled with lively debate. Answering to Miller Magazine’s questions on the IGC’s first digital conference, Arnaud Petit, Executive Director of the International Grains Council (IGC), said that hav- ing a virtual conference and keeping an international audience was the real challenge but they are satisfied by the number of attendees. “Despite the distance, we managed lively debates among 64 speakers worldwide. Having the entire value chain of the sector, from the sup- ply industry to the trade finance is also a value-added of the conference…Up today, the number of views is over 4200, which demonstrates the quality of the speakers.” All the videos, PowerPoint presentations and Q&A sessions will be accessible until December 2020. During these times of uncertainty following the COVID-19 pan- demic, the virtual conference provided a platform to dis- cuss the next steps to ensure the development of global grain trade. Speaking at the Wheat Market Development Session, Abdolreza Abbassian, the Secretary of the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), said that despite a drop in global wheat production, wheat markets should remain adequately supplied in 2020/21 because of less buoyant growth in overall demand. “Wheat trade is like- ly to increase in 2020/21 amid uncertainties stemming from economic/health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic remain. Wheat quotations are firmer than last year and could strengthen further in view of tighter sup- plies among major exporters and if the US dollar contin- ues to weaken,” he noted. Ryan LeGrand, President and CEO of the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), made one of the most interesting pre- sentations at the conference. "The flow of grain and feed into our export channels has remained largely unhin- dered," said LeGrand. He listed the COVID-19 short-run impacts on the grain markets as supply-chain disruptions, higher retail prices and lower farm-gate prices and do- mestic farm and consumer supports. According to him, demand loss (lower economic growth means a slower movement of demand to middle-class diets) and shifts in consumer demand will be medium-run impacts of the pandemic. He also shared his expectations for the next decade. “In the short-run, slower economic growth and supply-chain disruptions will raise prices for consumers and lower prices for farmers. In the long run, economic growth will continue to outpace population growth. The productivity of staple commodities continues to grow,