Uzbekistan’s Coatings, Concrete and Chemical Shows Converge on Tashkent
For three days in September 2026, a single exhibition hall in Tashkent will host what amounts to an entire construction materials supply chain under one roof.
The Uzbekistan Coatings Show, Uzbekistan Concrete Show and Uzbekistan Chemical Show will run together from 16 to 18 September at the Anhor Park Expo, organised by United Expo, and the decision to co-locate them is more than a scheduling convenience. It reflects a calculated read of where Central Asian demand is heading and how international suppliers can reach it most efficiently.
The timing is the story. Uzbekistan has become the region’s fastest-expanding construction economy, and the materials, chemicals and finishing sectors that feed it are being pulled along with that growth. By bringing raw chemistry, cement and concrete systems, and paints and coatings into one commercial space, the organisers are offering exhibitors a rare thing in a frontier market: a concentrated audience of specifiers, buyers and technical decision-makers spanning construction, oil and gas, engineering, furniture and textiles, all gathered in the same place at the same moment.
For companies weighing an entry into Central Asia, that concentration lowers the cost and friction of a first move.
Briefing
- Three co-located exhibitions, covering coatings, concrete and industrial chemistry, will run together at Tashkent’s Anhor Park Expo from 16 to 18 September 2026 under organiser United Expo, forming a single value-chain marketplace.
- The event lands during an Uzbek construction boom, with the sector expanding 14.2 per cent in 2025 and commercial building alone generating an estimated ten billion US dollars a year in materials demand.
- The Concrete Show sits against a cement industry that produced around 20 million tonnes in 2025 yet runs near 50 per cent capacity utilisation, pushing producers toward exports and higher-value grades.
- Coatings and chemical exhibitors are being positioned in front of downstream buyers across construction, oil and gas, mechanical engineering, furniture, woodworking and textiles, with organisers projecting more than 150 companies from over 15 countries.
- The format builds on the organiser’s Kazakhstan track record, where the January 2026 Central Asia Coatings Show and United Chemical Show reported over 160 exhibitors and more than 7,000 visitors from 15 countries.
A Construction Boom That Needs Materials, Not Just Capital
The commercial logic behind the Tashkent shows rests on demand that is unusually deep and unusually sustained. Uzbekistan’s economy grew by 7.7 per cent in 2025, one of the strongest performances in the wider region, and construction outpaced almost every other sector with growth of 14.2 per cent on the back of heavy investment in housing and infrastructure.
The Asian Development Bank expects the economy to hold at around 6.7 per cent in 2026, which keeps the construction pipeline full rather than slowing it. For suppliers of materials and finishing products, headline GDP figures matter less than what sits beneath them, and beneath them is a building programme with real scale.
That programme is being driven from the top. At the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum in 2026, the country secured 177 investment agreements worth 43 billion US dollars, and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has since pressed officials to convert those commitments into physical output, instructing: “Each agreement must be transformed into a concrete project, new jobs and high-value-added products.”
Under the long-term housing plan, annual residential construction is set to double by 2040 to 280,000 homes, while commercial construction is already running at 20 to 25 million square metres a year. Government estimates put the resulting demand for construction materials at roughly ten billion US dollars annually, a figure that expands further once flagship projects such as New Tashkent Airport, the 282-kilometre Tashkent to Samarkand highway and a planned nuclear plant in Jizzakh region move into procurement.
One Venue, Three Industries, A Single Value Chain
The structural intelligence of the 2026 line-up lies in how the three shows fit together. Industrial chemistry supplies the raw inputs; concrete and cement systems turn those inputs into structure; coatings protect, finish and extend the life of what has been built. Presenting them as one ecosystem lets a visitor trace a product journey from base chemical to finished architectural surface without leaving the venue, and it lets an exhibitor meet customers who sit at several points along that chain in a single set of meetings. In a market where relationships and technical trust still take time to build, that efficiency has a measurable commercial value.
United Expo has framed the proposition in plain commercial terms, describing the Concrete Show as: “the shortest path to strengthening a brand in the fastest-growing market in the region”. The claim is a sales message, but the underlying market data gives it substance. Neighbouring countries import an estimated 13 billion US dollars of construction materials each year, and Uzbek producers are increasingly looking outward as domestic capacity outstrips domestic need.
A co-located event that gathers buyers, distributors, engineers and investors from across the sector is, in that context, a practical instrument for both inbound suppliers seeking Uzbek customers and Uzbek manufacturers seeking export partners.
Cement Overcapacity Turns Into A Technology Opportunity
The Concrete Show arrives at a revealing moment for the cement sector, and the numbers explain why technology and quality now matter more than raw tonnage. Uzbek cement production rose almost 13 per cent to around 20.2 million tonnes in 2025, yet installed capacity stands at roughly 40.5 million tonnes a year across some 42 plants, leaving utilisation at just under half. Analysts describe the domestic market as structurally oversupplied, with the growth in output driven largely by a near fourfold surge in exports rather than by stronger local consumption. For producers, the strategic question has shifted from how much cement to make toward how to make it more valuable and more competitive abroad.
That shift is exactly where an exhibition of this kind earns its place. The Concrete Show’s sections span dry construction mixes, formwork and monolithic construction technologies, next-generation chemical additives, transport and production machinery, and laboratory quality-control systems for reinforced concrete products. Each of those categories speaks to the same commercial pressure, which is the need to move up the value curve toward higher grades, tighter quality assurance and lower-cost production.
The government has reinforced the direction of travel, signalling that future investment in construction materials should prioritise technological modernisation and higher-value manufacturing rather than simply expanding basic output, and offering interest subsidies to manufacturers that invest in energy-efficient equipment. Suppliers of additives, testing systems and process technology are, in effect, walking into a market that has been told by policy to buy what they sell.
Coatings And The Contest For Central Asian Market Share
The Uzbekistan Coatings Show addresses the finishing end of the same story, and its audience reaches well beyond construction sites. Its exhibitor sections cover raw and auxiliary materials, application services, finished products, equipment and instruments, packaging and filling, and environmental protection and occupational safety, while the buyer base is drawn from construction, chemicals, oil and gas, furniture, woodworking and engineering. That breadth reflects how coatings sit across multiple industrial supply chains at once, from protective coatings on pipelines and steelwork to decorative finishes on furniture and interiors. In a country building homes, factories and transport links simultaneously, each of those end markets is expanding.
The competitive stakes are rising in step with the opportunity. The organisers position Tashkent as the emerging hub for the paints and coatings industry in Central Asia, and the region’s status as one of the fastest-growing coatings markets is drawing international manufacturers who want an early foothold before local preferences and supplier relationships harden.
For exhibitors, the appeal is access to technical specialists and buyers who are actively sourcing rather than browsing, and the chance to establish brand recognition in a B2B segment where reputation and proven performance carry disproportionate weight. Early entrants who build distribution and technical support now stand to hold an advantage that is difficult for later arrivals to dislodge.
Chemicals At The Base Of The Materials Pyramid
The Uzbekistan Chemical Show completes the value chain by covering the inputs that everything else depends on. Its sections run across industrial chemistry and raw materials, laboratory and analytical equipment, chemical engineering and pumping systems, green chemistry and industrial safety, and the packaging, transport and storage of chemical products.
Held concurrently with the Coatings Show, it allows suppliers to address both the chemistry that goes into paints, additives and construction products and the equipment used to handle and process it. The joint hosting means a raw materials producer, a machinery supplier and a finished-goods manufacturer can all find their customers within the same event footprint.
For the wider industrial economy, the chemical vertical carries strategic weight beyond construction. Buyers are expected from oil and gas, mechanical engineering, furniture and textiles, sectors that are themselves modernising as Uzbekistan diversifies its industrial base and pursues higher-value manufacturing.
The inclusion of green chemistry and industrial safety among the core sections also signals where regulation and procurement are heading, as the government advances quality certification schemes and a digital platform for domestic and international standards. Suppliers who can demonstrate environmental performance and compliance credentials are aligning with the direction that Uzbek industrial policy has already set.
The Business Programme And The Deals Behind It
Alongside the exhibition floor, each show carries a conference and business programme intended to turn footfall into transactions. The organisers plan masterclasses, solution presentations and expert discussions on digitalisation, environmental trends and the development trajectory of the coatings, concrete and chemical markets across Central Asia.
For a first-time entrant, these sessions do double duty, offering market intelligence on local conditions while providing a stage to demonstrate technical credibility to an audience of specifiers and buyers. In markets where personal contact still drives purchasing decisions, the programme is less an add-on than a core part of the commercial proposition.
The visitor projections give a sense of the scale the organisers are targeting. More than 4,000 professional visitors are anticipated for the concrete and chemical events, with the combined coatings and chemical footprint expected to draw over 150 companies from more than 15 countries. Those forecasts build on the organiser’s Kazakhstan experience, where the January 2026 Central Asia Coatings Show and United Chemical Show together reported more than 160 exhibitors and over 7,000 visitors from 15 countries.
Translating that model across the border into Tashkent is a deliberate expansion of a format that has already demonstrated it can gather a regional industrial audience in one place.
Why Tashkent Is Becoming The Region’s Materials Marketplace
Taken together, the three shows are a marker of how far Uzbekistan has travelled as an industrial and investment destination. The country now sits at the centre of overlapping interest from the World Bank, the EBRD, the European Union and bilateral partners, and its construction materials output has climbed steeply, with building materials exports reaching 1.2 billion US dollars last year.
A cement sector wrestling with overcapacity, a housing programme set to double, and a policy drive toward local content and higher-value manufacturing all point in the same direction, which is a market that needs technology, quality systems and finishing products at least as much as it needs volume. Events that connect suppliers of exactly those things to buyers who are ready to spend are well matched to the moment.
For international exhibitors, the calculation is straightforward even if the market is not without risk. Currency exposure, uneven regional investment distribution and the competitive pressure created by domestic overcapacity all warrant careful due diligence before committing. Set against those caveats is a rare combination of scale, momentum and policy support, concentrated into a single venue over three days.
Whether the September gathering ultimately delivers the partnerships and contracts the organisers promise will depend on execution, but the underlying proposition is sound: Central Asia’s materials market has reached a size and pace where a serious industrial marketplace in Tashkent makes commercial sense, and the companies that establish themselves there early are the ones most likely to shape it.
Key Industry Questions
- When and where do the Uzbekistan Coatings, Concrete and Chemical shows take place in 2026? All three exhibitions run concurrently from 16 to 18 September 2026 at the Anhor Park Expo exhibition centre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, under organiser United Expo. Co-locating them creates a single B2B platform covering the full construction materials value chain, from industrial chemistry and cement systems through to paints and coatings. The shared venue and dates are designed so that exhibitors can reach buyers across several linked industries in one visit, and so that visitors can source raw materials, equipment and finished products without moving between separate events. Professional registration and exhibitor stand booking are handled through the organiser’s official channels for each individual show.
- Why is Uzbekistan considered the fastest-growing construction materials market in Central Asia? Uzbekistan’s economy grew 7.7 per cent in 2025, with construction expanding 14.2 per cent on the back of housing and infrastructure investment. Commercial building alone runs at 20 to 25 million square metres a year, generating an estimated ten billion US dollars in annual demand for construction materials. A long-term housing programme aims to double residential construction to 280,000 homes a year by 2040, while major projects including New Tashkent Airport and the Tashkent to Samarkand highway add further demand. The 2026 Tashkent International Investment Forum produced 177 agreements worth 43 billion US dollars. That combination of scale, government backing and sustained momentum is what distinguishes the Uzbek market from its regional peers.
- What does cement overcapacity mean for suppliers exhibiting at the Concrete Show? Uzbek cement output reached around 20.2 million tonnes in 2025, but installed capacity of roughly 40.5 million tonnes leaves utilisation near 50 per cent, and the market is described as structurally oversupplied. For producers, competitiveness now depends on higher-value grades, tighter quality control and lower production costs rather than additional volume. That shift favours suppliers of chemical additives, laboratory and testing systems, formwork technology and efficient production machinery. Government policy reinforces the trend by prioritising technological modernisation over basic capacity expansion and subsidising energy-efficient equipment. Exhibitors offering process technology and quality assurance are therefore addressing a market that is being pushed, by both economics and policy, to buy exactly what they provide.
- Which downstream industries should coatings and chemical suppliers target in Uzbekistan? The organisers identify buyers from construction, chemicals, oil and gas, mechanical engineering, furniture, woodworking, textiles and industrial engineering. Coatings sit across many of these chains at once, spanning protective finishes for pipelines and steel, decorative products for interiors and furniture, and industrial coatings for manufacturing. The chemical vertical supplies raw inputs and processing equipment to the same sectors. As Uzbekistan diversifies its industrial base and moves toward higher-value manufacturing, each of these end markets is expanding, which widens the addressable audience for suppliers. The breadth is a core reason the coatings and chemical shows are co-located, since it lets exhibitors meet customers from several industries within a single event.
- How does co-locating three shows benefit exhibitors and buyers? Running the coatings, concrete and chemical shows together assembles an entire materials supply chain in one venue, from base chemistry through cement and concrete systems to finished coatings. Exhibitors gain access to buyers who sit at multiple points along that chain, reducing the cost and effort of reaching a fragmented audience. Buyers can trace a product journey from raw input to finished architectural surface without leaving the site, and can compare suppliers across linked categories in one visit. For companies entering Central Asia for the first time, the concentration of specifiers, distributors, engineers and investors in a single location lowers the barrier to establishing relationships in a market where personal contact still drives purchasing.
- What government policies are shaping demand for construction materials and technology in Uzbekistan? Uzbek policy is steering the sector toward local content, higher-value manufacturing and technological modernisation. The President has instructed officials to convert investment agreements into concrete projects and to expand the use of domestically produced materials. Manufacturers investing in energy-efficient equipment receive interest subsidies of 7 per cent on soum-denominated loans and 4 per cent on foreign-currency borrowing. The government is also launching a digital platform for domestic and international quality certifications and supporting companies in obtaining internationally recognised credentials. For suppliers, these measures create demand for modern process technology, testing systems and compliant, environmentally sound products, and they favour firms that can demonstrate quality and certification rather than compete on price alone.
- How does the Tashkent event compare with the organiser’s Kazakhstan exhibitions? The Tashkent shows extend a model that United Expo has already run in Kazakhstan. The January 2026 Central Asia Coatings Show and United Chemical Show together reported more than 160 exhibitors and over 7,000 visitors from 15 countries, which the organisers cite as evidence of regional demand for a concentrated industrial marketplace. The Uzbekistan editions apply the same co-location logic to a different national market, targeting more than 150 companies and over 4,000 professional visitors for the concrete and chemical events. The expansion reflects a broader portfolio strategy across Central Asia, positioning Uzbekistan alongside Kazakhstan as a second regional hub for materials, chemicals and coatings exhibitions.
- What commercial risks should international suppliers weigh before entering the Uzbek market? The opportunity is real, but so are the caveats. Domestic cement overcapacity and export-led competition can compress margins for volume products, making differentiation on technology and quality essential. Investment remains unevenly distributed, with a handful of regions accounting for a large share of activity, so market access can vary geographically. Currency exposure and broader regional uncertainty add financial risk that warrants hedging and careful contract structuring. Certification and standards requirements are tightening, which raises the bar for compliance. Suppliers who conduct proper due diligence, build local distribution and technical support, and position themselves on performance rather than price are best placed to convert the market’s growth into durable commercial returns.
Strategic Takeaways
- Co-locating coatings, concrete and chemical shows turns Tashkent into a single value-chain marketplace, and suppliers who treat it as one connected audience rather than three separate events will extract the most commercial value from a single trip.
- Uzbekistan’s cement overcapacity has shifted the competitive battleground from tonnage to technology, creating durable demand for additives, testing systems, process machinery and quality assurance that will outlast the current construction cycle.
- Government policy favouring local content, certification and energy-efficient modernisation is effectively pre-qualifying the suppliers most likely to win, rewarding firms that lead on quality, compliance and environmental performance over those competing on price.
- Early market entrants who build distribution and technical support in 2026 stand to secure relationships and brand recognition that later arrivals will struggle to displace, given how heavily Central Asian B2B purchasing rests on trust and proven performance.
- With building materials exports reaching 1.2 billion US dollars and a regional import market worth an estimated 13 billion US dollars a year, the Tashkent shows serve inbound suppliers and outbound Uzbek producers alike, making them a two-way gateway to Central Asian trade rather than a one-directional sales channel.
