Editor’s note: The event featured in this story took place prior to the USSEC travel ban due to COVID-19.
At USSEC’s invitation, a Russian team visited Jordan and attended the USSEC Buyers and Sellers Conference organized at Kempinsky hotel Ashtar, Dead Sea at the beginning of March 2020. For Russian customers, it was the last opportunity to travel outside the country prior to the lockdown of international business visits and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement of a pandemic situation due to COVID-19.
65 visitors from different countries in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, along with Sri Lanka, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Russia, and speakers from Great Britain and the United States attended the event.
The activity aimed to educate conference attendees with the latest information in international soy trading and available soy purchase market tools and to emphasize the competitive advantages of U.S. Soy in order to expand market share in the region. Speakers from INTL FC Stone Inc., and CME Group approached different topics of interest ranging from current soybean and meal global market outlook to technical trading aspects, including risk management. The presenters delivered clear messages to commodities traders and purchasing professionals about soy and trading during the two-day activity.
At the end, Russian team members agreed that the conference provided an excellent opportunity for participants to get an updated view of the soy market, learn how to control risks rising from hedging, and to network with industry colleagues from different countries. In a highly competitive business environment, and in an uncertain world of market turbulence, high caliber speakers shared knowledge and valuable information that was greatly appreciated. The Russian team members were extremely pleased with the visit and thankful to USSEC for the invitation to attend the conference, saying that they look forward to joining similar events in the future.