Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In the third quarter of 2023, the international Freight Exchange ATI.SU recorded an increase in demand for the delivery of goods by road to Uzbekistan. At the same time, export shipments began to decline.

The number of applications placed on the ATI.SU Freight Exchange for the delivery of goods to Uzbekistan from July to September increased by 57% compared to the same period of last year. The main increase was provided by the Russian direction (+71%), Kazakhstan also showed a noticeable increase. The number of applications has also increased compared to the second quarter of 2023 - by 19% on average across the country and by 18% in Russia.

Meanwhile, in exports, which grew rapidly in 2022, the opposite trend was observed in the third quarter of 2023 on the ATI.SU Freight Exchange. Growth slowed and stalled earlier this year, and now it has started to decline. Thus, in the third quarter, the number of applications placed on the Exchange for transportation from Uzbekistan decreased by 37% compared to the same period last year, and by 32% compared to the second quarter of this year.

And here the trend is largely determined by the Russian direction, the decrease in which was 39% year-on-year and 27% compared to the second quarter of 2023. The number of applications for transportation to Kazakhstan and Belarus has also decreased slightly.

“Just like last year, the main driver of changes in the international transportation market of Uzbekistan is the processes associated with Russia. However, the situation has changed. In 2022, Russian companies, due to sanctions and the loss of European goods, were interested in replacing these goods. This spurred export growth in neighboring countries, including Uzbekistan. Now the supply chains are in place and a small adjustment is taking place. In addition, the weakening of the ruble plays an important role, which makes foreign goods in Russia less and less competitive. But Russian goods in other countries, on the contrary, are becoming more and more attractive in price, which increases the demand for supplies from Russia,” notes Farid Vakhidov, director of the Uzbekistan representative office of the international Freight Exchange ATI.SU.