The European grain trade gathered in Bucharest last week for EuroGrainExchange 2026. Here are our key observations.

European vegetable oil prices moved mostly higher week on week, supported by broader strength in underlying energy markets, where prices remained elevated amid mounting concerns over potential oil supply disruptions from the Middle East and the prolonged lack of resolution in the US-Iran conflict.

US wheat futures and Euronext contracts moved lower on Friday April 24, as profit taking and technical selling weighed on prices. Global cash markets were largely steady, with some trade reported across European origins, though broader sentiment remained cautious, with participants describing conditions as thin.

It has become increasingly clear in the week to Friday March 27 that, with new-crop wheat and corn prices beginning to emerge in Ukraine, the typical discount to old-crop prices was no longer present, Fastmarkets has heard.

Soybean oil prices rose to 67.3 cents, driven by Middle East disruptions and strong biofuel margins. Fastmarkets predicts continued price strength amid geopolitical risks.

The war between Israel, the United States and Iran is already affecting the flow of agricultural commodities from South America to Iran, particularly feed, with some soymeal cargoes said to have been washed out, market sources told Fastmarkets in the week to Thursday March 5.

The Ukrainian shipping market is concerned about a potential reshuffling of tonnage following Russia’s policy banning vessels that have previously called at European or Ukrainian ports. Market data from International Seaborne Market (ISM), however, so far paints a less pessimistic picture, Fastmarkets learned.

Four years after Russia’s unprovoked, attempted full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Fastmarkets examines how the war has reshaped the Ukrainian and global steel and grain markets, outlining the key challenges faced by these sectors as they have adapted and endured.

Wheat futures pushed higher across major exchanges on Friday February 20, supported by firm sentiment in the Black Sea and steady export premiums in key origins.

After 26 years of discussion and strong opposition from European farmers, the European Union has approved the EU-Mercosur trade agreement on Friday January 9. The agreement provides for the gradual reduction of tariffs, common rules for trade in industrial and agricultural products, investments, and regulatory standards.