According to Yuriy Rizha, an expert in agro-marketing, at the beginning of the last month of winter there is still a large volume of marketable wheat in the elevators of agricultural producers – this puts pressure on the level of “demand prices”.
“Farmers hope for a possible strengthening of prices, but the market currently, alas, does not give reasons for such an evolution in the short term,” the expert believes. – The price is not falling, but it is not growing either, and has remained at a low level for several months”.
In the last three months Moldovan wheat supplied to Italy was traded in the range of $250-255/t, including transportation costs. Curiously (and unpleasantly for agricultural producers), the price practically does not depend on the category of grain quality – food or fodder. According to Ivan Scutaru, director of Sanctum AG, “this is one of the most important demotivators of grain agribusiness in Moldova”.
The price is formed by logistics
The factor that determines pricing and market dynamics in general, not for the first marketing season, is the cost of transportation logistics.
Freight rates in recent months remained stable, about $40-45/t (one or another port in Italy). Under these conditions, the only mechanism that could allow to increase the price offered by the trader to the farmer would be to reduce transportation costs. But in the short term (in February) such development of events, as market operators believe, is not expected.
At the end of the first week of February, the European wheat market entered a downward stage.Contracts on theFrench exchange MATIF (a component of the Euronextexchange system) for flour-milling wheat with delivery in March fell to 193.50 euros per ton, and contracts with delivery in May – to 191.75 euros per ton. The weakness of the Western European market indirectly reflects also on the market potential in the Black Sea region.
In the export segment, Italy remains the main destination for Moldovan wheat supplies.
Moreover, Turkey, an important buyer of this commodity in the previous period, has lost interest in supplies from Moldova in recent weeks. Turkish importers have switched en masse to Russian wheat, which is aggressively entering the regional market – and at dumping prices, difficult to compare with the price level of Moldovan wheat.
Traders note that sometimes they receive inquiries from Greece, but they are not large and are not able to change the market balance.
The domestic market reacts to external factors
As of February 9, 2026, wheat in Moldova was traded at prices ranging from 3.05-3.55 lei/kg. Even for high-protein wheat, the maximum price offered on the market reaches only the level of 3.55-3.60 lei/kg, i. e. without creating a clear price difference from feed wheat.
|
Products |
Minimum price, lei/kg (North-Center region) | Maximum price, lei/kg (region South – Giurgiulesti) |
Average price, lei/kg (Center-South region) |
In comparison with prices in January |
| Food wheat |
3,05-3,15 |
3,45-3,55 | 3,30 |
No change |
| Feed wheat |
3,00 |
3,30 |
3,15 |
No change |
By and large, the only real hope for farmers remains a possible reduction in freight rates. Such a dynamic could create a temporary window of positive adjustment, allowing a slight increase in the price offered to households.
