EuroGrainExchange 2025: Insightful talks, great vibes and top-tier networking

A Triumph Powered by all attendees - Thank You!

The third edition of the EuroGrain Exchange, held in Bucharest on 10-11 April, came to a successful close, leaving the grain industry buzzing with fresh ideas, challenging perspectives, and new collaborations. Over the course of 2 intensive days, industry leaders, traders, farmers, processors, and a diverse array of stakeholders from 4 continents, 34 countries, and 303 companies across the globe engaged in dynamic discussions surrounding the challenges and opportunities facing the grain and oilseed sectors.
Uniting experts from diverse backgrounds, the EuroGrain Exchange 2025 opened with a powerful address from industry associations and officials - Alex Michailidis from S.E.E.D.Y.Z. ASSOCIATION HELLÉNIQUE DES COMMERCANTS DE CÉRÉALES ET D’ALIMENTS DE BÉTAIL aptly summarized the sentiment, stating “Such an event was lacking from the area, and it’s now well-established.”  The forum stood as an essential space for open dialogue amid turbulent geopolitics and trade wars, volatile weather dependencies, and shifting export routes.

The openning session of ЕuroGrainExchange “Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, and the Black Sea – The Biggest European Supplier of Food”, moderated by Florin Constantin from Agxecutive, Romania, began with an engaging moment from Tamas Vincze, who asked: “2504 – What does this number represent?”. A QR code appeared on screen, allowing the audience to vote on four possible answers. The correct one: Romania’s corn yield in 2024—an introduction to deeper discussions on corn production challenges common to Hungary and Romania. Assen Georgiev from Grainstore, Bulgaria, followed with a clear overview of Bulgaria’s grain market. He highlighted key issues such as rising input costs (mainly fertilizers and land rent), limited liquidity and risk management tools, and growing competition that squeezes profit margins. Weather problems have also hit spring crop yields, while reduced financial availability for both farmers and traders and the loss of Bulgaria’s EU export edge add further pressure. From Serbia, Alexander Lalic delivered a detailed picture of the country’s grain and oilseed production and trade flows. He pointed out evolving patterns and emphasized that the outlook for soybeans in 2025 will largely depend on weather conditions. Norbert Sztolc of Poland presented a strategic look at Poland’s export situation. He noted a shift from land-based exports toward deep-sea shipping. His analysis also covered domestic supply-demand balances, export volumes, storage capacity, and expectations for Q2. The session ended on a creative note with Christina Serebriakova’s animated presentation titled “Ukraine’s Grain Export Movie: Back to the Future.” Bringing popcorn to the stage, she previewed a film starring cartoon versions of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Volodymyr Zelensky, and others from China and Brazil, set in a Wild West setting. Titled The Corn Riders, the film offered a humorous yet insightful look into the geopolitical twists in Ukraine’s grain export path.

The second panel, moderated by Petar Dimitrov (Agricore), titled “Buyers perspective of market situation. Turkey and Iberian Peninsula.” opened with a statement from Nikolay Belchev (Expur), summarizing the turbulent times we all face - “I have never seen so many changes happen so fast in my long career”. He emphasized that while trade wars create massive volatility, there is also an opportunity for those willing to take risks and that in fact crushers look the healthiest and do have margins – depending on where you look.  Crushers narrative was continued by Semir Özgentürk (Bunge), who highlighted the inelastic sunoil market in Turkey and how the import quotas effect processors. One thing is certain – Turkish consumer will always buy sunoil, as there is no alternative. Thomas Lang (RWA) set the tone for a lively discussion among panelists and audience members on demand for corn and effect of aflatoxins - “In some parts of Serbia we cannot grow corn anymore due to high toxins from climate change” shared a participant. The solutions ranged from eliminating the effected corn before going into the silos to proposing increases in EU regulations for the allowed toxins in feed, like the system in USA. “Whoever will sell cheap, Spain will buy it” stated Zlatomir Kovachev (Cargill), as meat producers must always be competitive, so even 1 $ matters for their grain demand. However, animal welfare and freshwater management movements will lead to more regulations and reduce competitiveness in the long run, thus lower demand for feed. The demand side was also highlighted by Mahmoud Kalila (Mediterraneo), who spoke about Egypts ambitious plans to be self-sufficient in wheat – an unachievable goal, as Egypt will continue to rely on imports of wheat and corn. The conclusion of the panel was made by Güneş Birgen (ROTEL), who crowned corn “King of this discussion panel” and noted that Turkey may become an outlet for corn and sorghum sellers, as USA and China tariff wars accelerate.

The third panel, “Grain Markets, Black Sea, and Balkans. Macro Picture”, was moderated by Cristina Cionga from FAPPR Romania. She emphasized FAPPR’s commitment to EU values, helping farmers and advocating for better public policies. Florin Bratucu raised the question, “Does the Danube waterway work?” highlighting logistics issues. Farmers make small forward sales, while traders wait for price drops. Land competition is high in Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia, and fewer young people are interested in farming: “We should put appreciation on the land.” He noted CTA Power’s capacity and warned that “the war is going to keep on going”, stressing that margins will stay tight. On distant exports: “If we sell to places like Indonesia, we’re very cheap.” Victoria Golubyatnikova discussed Ukraine’s wheat issues, with most crops turning into feed wheat due to the war. Romania, however, showed “amazing parameters” for bread-making quality. She hopes for a good crop this year. Jade Delafraye highlighted Argus’s presence in Paris and Kyiv. She pointed out that Chicago market trends might affect Euronext prices and that Ukrainian corn exports were supported by Turkish demand and reduced Russian competition. Ukraine’s wheat areas are recovering, while Romania’s wheat remains stable, and in ideal condition. Ukrainian corn output is set to rise due to expanded areas. Mihail Hulciu presented Cargill’s RegenConnect program, explaining the importance of regenerative agriculture to address climate change, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. He discussed the voluntary nature of carbon markets, where carbon is quantified through soil sampling, modeling, or remote sensing. The carbon market in Romania is still developing, and farmers must provide invoices to validate actions.

Fueling a Growing Community