Miller Magazine Issue: 135 March 2021

42 NEWS MILLER / march 2021 Georgia to replace Russian wheat with Kazakh grain IGC Grains Conference to be held as digital event with new interactive features Georgia will partially replace Russian wheat with Ka- zakh grains as the Russian wheat export tax is doub- led per tonne, announces Executive Director of the Georgian Flour Producers Association Levan Silagava. Russia rose its wheat export tax from € 25 to € 50 per tonne of wheat from March 1 to June 30. Silagava said that the import of Ukrainian and Romanian wheat is also being considered. He said that Georgia constantly has at least two months wheat supply and will not face a wheat shortage. This year it was predicted that 150,000 tonnes of wheat and 80,000 tonnes of barley would be harvested in Georgia. Statistics show that last year 87.3% of the wheat imported to Georgia (430,236 tonnes) came from Russia. Also last year Georgia purchased 56,248 ton- nes of wheat from Kazakhstan, 6,000 tonnes from the USA, 230 tonnes from Iran and 45 tonnes from Tur- key. These are the top five wheat importers to Geo- rgia. In Georgia, about 80-100,000 tonnes of wheat are harvested every year, which covers less than 10% of the overall consumption countrywide. Following the success of last year’s digital event, the 2021 edition will be again digital and include a lot of new interactive features to allow greater networking opportunities between participants, sponsors and spea- kers. These include person-to-person video calls, a vir- tual exhibition room, side-events and delegate meeting rooms to continue the session discussions. This year, the theme of the event is “Grains and oil- seeds sectors: Strategic risks and resilience post Co- vid-19”. The two-day event will include 12 live stre- aming discussions on current issues affecting grains trade, including strategic risks for global markets, cli- mate change, trade finance and the latest grains, oil- seeds and rice market developments. The event will provide a broad platform of discussions between the public and the private sectors. Video presentations by expert speakers will be made available 2 days before the conference al- lowing delegates to plan their viewing. For those delegates in other time zones, the live streaming panels will also be available till 7 days after delivery. Two special sessions will address potential business developments in South East Asia and in Central America. The IGC Grains Conference, one of the most estab- lished events in the grains and oilseeds sector, is a key feature of London Grains Week 2021, organised by AHDB, GAFTA, IGC and IGTC. For more information on the conference programme and to register please go to: https://www.igc.int/en/ conference/confhome.aspx The International Grains Council invites you to join the key players in the global grains value chain to discuss the latest developments and issues affecting the grains, oilseeds and rice markets at its 30th IGC Grains Conference on 8-9 June 2021.