News about International trade
In March 2026, only 742 thousand tons of sunflower oil were exported from Moldova. This is literally a collapse of external supplies compared to their dynamics in February – 3.2 thousand tons.
In 2025, a decrease in the total number of vessels calling at Giurgiulesti Port was recorded, down to 1,536 against 1,769 a year earlier, when the maximum number was recorded from 2019.
The world economy missed 500 million barrels of oil due to supply disruptions from the Middle East. Losses from lost trade are estimated at about $50 billion.
The largest contribution to GDP growth in 2025 was made by information technology and communications. A 12.5% increase in gross value added contributed 0.9 percentage points to GDP growth.
Wheat could post its strongest weekly gain in nearly two months. Drought and dry weather in key regions, including the U.S. Great Plains, Australia, and parts of the Black Sea region and Europe, have weighed on the outlook for wheat supplies.
The global garden strawberry market enters the 2026 season in a state of the “typical paradox” of the fruit business: in many regions, supply is increasing, but profitability remains fragile.
The price of the first cryptocurrency rose to $78,000 for the first time since early February. The reason for the positive dynamics was the statement of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
American President Donald Trump yesterday formulated two ultimatums at once. First, he announced that he had banned Israel from bombing Lebanon, and soon wrote on his social network Truth Social that NATO should “stay out” of the unblocked Strait of Hormuz.
Within the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, President Maia Sandu held a number of bilateral meetings, including with the President of Turkey, the forum’s host country. Messages about the meetings were published by Maia Sandu in a brief format on social networks.
US President Donald Trump reacted to the announced opening of the Strait of Hormuz and thanked the Iranian leadership in a post on his Truth Social platform.
In 2025, the Moldovan wine sector showed growth in the main indicators. The harvest of technical grape varieties amounted to 259 thousand tons, which was higher than the initial forecast of 220 thousand tons. This was reported by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Andrian Digolian.
There are great opportunities for cooperation between Moldova and Azerbaijan in the energy sector. This was mentioned during the meeting of Presidents of the two countries Maya Sandu and Ilham Aliyev in Antalya on the margins of the annual diplomatic forum.
The National Food Safety Agency (ANSA) has stopped large consignments of imported vegetables – green crops – at the Moldovan border “with clear signs of spoilage”.
Moldovan autochthonous grape varieties Fetjaska Albă and Fetjaska Năgre were included in the permanent exposition of one of the most famous wine museums in the world – Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.
Economic and military competition has intensified under Trump, but many experts consider him only a “symptom” of the global restructuring of the world system. The Brookings Institution predicts a continuing trend toward national and regional self-sufficiency through the painful scrapping of the old. Its arguments are cited by Mike Dolan, a Reuters columnist.
INATECH Packaging, a Romanian packaging solutions provider present in Central and Eastern Europe, launches in Moldova a digital platform aimed at corporate and retail customers.
Corn exports from the Republic of Moldova are not limited to the supply of this grain as a raw material. A significant part of the harvest goes a longer way to international markets – in the form of ethanol produced at the country’s processing plants. Ethanol (and its by-products – feed additives) accounts for 44% of the value chain of Moldova’s corn sector.
About 20 Moldovan wineries have increased exports to new markets under the WESA grant program “Promotion and Export of Moldovan Wine”.
Romania has set a record for wheat exports in the 2025-26 season. According to Eurostat, in July-January the country shipped the largest volume to foreign markets for this period, exceeding the average for the last five years by 2 million tons.
The Regulation on the strengthening of state control, jointly exercised by the authorized bodies, over products of animal origin, including breeding material and processed products, was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the RM.
