Buyers from Italy and Greece notified large grain traders from Moldova, who supplied them with food wheat of the new harvest, that control laboratory analyses revealed that the products did not meet the European standard for one of the quality indicators. Namely, the W index (“flour strength” – gluten) of Moldovan wheat was about one third lower than the norm.
Commenting on this situation, the chairman of the Association of Grain Exporters Agrocereale, Iurie Rija, noted in a conversation with Logos Press correspondent that earlier European buyers of Moldovan wheat paid attention only to one of the most important parameters of its quality – protein content. In the bulk of wheat from the 2025 harvest, grown in Moldova, it is consistently higher than 12% (gluten – at least 24%), which corresponds to the category of food grain. Moldovan exporters faced the problem of low W index for the first time in the current marketing season.
In principle, experts believe that the W index depends on wheat genetics, climatic conditions, fertilizers and milling technologies. In spring 2025, Moldova experienced periods of high humidity and sharp changes in atmospheric temperature. It is possible that the weather specifics of the current agricultural season led to a decrease in the W index of Moldovan wheat.
In addition, some flour-milling specialists suggested that the problem of reduced “flour strength” is related to the fact that farmers and traders did not give wheat some time to “lay down and undergo processing at the elevator”. Its realization immediately after harvest could have affected W index performance.
Finally, a certain problem for trading is the fact that Moldova does not yet have laboratories capable of conducting research to determine the “flour strength” index.
A certain role in this situation may be played by the fact that at present the European wheat market is a “buyer’s market”, i.e. the market of situationally excessive supply and decreasing prices. In such a situation, the buyer in principle seeks to purchase the highest quality product for the lowest possible price.
The W index is an indicator of the “strength of flour”, which measures its elasticity and viscosity, and consequently the amount of protein (gluten). The higher the W value, the more gluten there is in the flour, making the dough more elastic, better able to retain moisture and suitable for products like high quality bread or pizza.
Read more in Friday’s edition of Logos Press Weekly
