Record wheat crops, rising exporter stocks and a fading China import boom mean that the world is not short of grain, but millers cannot afford to be complacent. At IAOM MEA in Jeddah, analysts showed how the real battleground has shifted to protein, logistics, origin flexibility and farmer behaviour, as the Black Sea, the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere fight for a roughly fixed slice of global demand.
At IAOM MEA 2025 in Jeddah, a high-profile panel of millers and grain traders explored how Saudi Arabia’s new grain architecture is quietly positioning the Kingdom as a potential grain and food security hub for the Red Sea and Gulf region.
At IAOM MEA 2025 in Jeddah, Bühler CTO Dr. Ian Roberts argues that protein diversification, AI and industrial-scale upcycling will be key to reshaping the global food system and warns that the world will not remain within planetary boundaries unless it changes.
Egypt, world’s largest wheat importer, is rolling out an ambitious silo expansion program to shore up food security in an increasingly volatile global market.
For decades, the global grain and milling economy has been framed in the language of acres, tonnes, margins and risk. What has often remained invisible is the talent shaping those numbers from the inside: the women who operate mills and laboratories, lead trading desks, run farmer networks, manage HR and training, and represent their companies on the international stage.
International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) champions inclusion and visibility through its Women in Milling (WiM) initiative, launched at a luncheon at the IAOM Annual Conference & Expo (ACE) in 2019.
Established in 2012 in the USA and first run in New Orleans, The Women in Agribusiness Summit (WIA) is the premier and most significant global event dedicated to advancing women in the agricultural sector by fostering professional development, industry connections, and strategic insights that drive individual career growth and business success.
Women are increasingly shaping the future of the grain industry, stepping into leadership roles across production, trade, processing, technology, and policy. Once on the margins of a traditionally male-dominated sector, they are now driving innovation, promoting sustainability, and strengthening global food systems.
Building on more than 240 years of milling heritage, Loulis Food Ingredients is transforming a historic Greek family business into a modern European ingredients powerhouse.
Markets are mispricing grain risk. Tight wheat balances, shifting flows and a slower China will shape 2025/26, says Andrey Sizov, Managing Director of SovEcon.
Since the onset of the marketing year in July, the Black Sea wheat market has faced significant challenges - delayed harvests, slow exports, and logistical issues have hindered price reductions compared to previous seasons.
Fluctuating wheat origins, quality concerns, market volatility, and margin pressures demand smarter tools in the grain milling industry. Fabien Varagnac—a respected milling consultant with nearly two decades of hands-on experience—explains how digitalization and AI are reshaping every dimension of flour production, from sourcing and quality control to operational agility and risk management.
The global food system stands at a crossroads. As demand for sustainable protein soars, pulses—beans, chickpeas, lentils, and peas—emerge as modern solutions to humanity’s most pressing nutritional challenges. Yet the most compelling chapter in this transformation is unfolding across a region uniquely positioned to capture its future: the Middle East.
Global Grain Geneva 2025 revealed that even as record harvests and ample stocks suggest a “comfortable” balance, the real battle for grain is being fought on other boards: geopolitics, finance and technology.
In a region where farming is a battle against drought, heat, and scarcity, innovation has become the only path to survival. From gene editing to biologicals and AI-driven agriculture, technology is redefining how the Middle East and North Africa grow food—and how the milling industry secures its future.
In a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and digital (VUCAD) world, the traders who can speak both the language of commodities and the language of data , who understand the mechanics of financing as well as the geopolitics of governments — from fragile contexts like Syria’s re-entry into SWIFT, to sudden laws and export bans, to tariff and trade war shocks from the U.S., to forward-looking hubs like the UAE — will not just adapt to the future, they will shape it.
Corn powers Saudi Arabia’s feed complex — and Argentina is firmly in the driver’s seat. As demand expands and domestic production stays negligible, Argentina dominates the Kingdom’s import flows, leaving Brazil, the U.S., and Ukraine to compete for whatever space is left. This analysis unpacks the outlook for 2025/26 and show why Argentina’s advantage isn’t cyclical but structural — and what room, if any, remains for alternative suppliers.
Germany’s milling industry has undergone one of the deepest structural transformations in Europe. From tens of thousands of artisanal mills to a handful of high-capacity industrial sites, the sector now balances modernization, consolidation, and tradition — ensuring supply security while adapting to new sustainability and regulatory challenges.
With one of the world’s strongest grain bases and deep milling traditions, Russia’s flour industry is entering a new phase. From export expansion to quality upgrades and specialized products, the sector is redefining its role at home and abroad.
Amid economic headwinds and climate volatility, South Africa emerges as a resilient grain powerhouse at the tip of the continent—driving regional trade, expanding corn exports, and anchoring Southern Africa’s food security.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in Zaragoza, Spanish silo specialist SIMEZA has evolved from a local steel pioneer into a global storage partner for millers and grain handlers on five continents.
“The modernization of milling technologies represents a strategic lever for a more efficient and sustainable industry,” Luigi Nalon, CEO of Omas Industries, told Miller Magazine.
In an industry where innovation meets necessity, CESCO EPC GmbH stands out as a model of invention and resilience.
In an interview during the recent IDMA Istanbul Expo, Mehmet Büyükzeren, the General Manager of Yılmaz Kardeş Hydraulic Machinery Industry Co., shares his insights on the critical role of logistics in the global grain trade and the increasing demand for advanced unloading platforms.
The 2025/26 cereals landscape combines abundant supply with historically high demand, while the market’s most significant risks stem not from fields but from economics and geopolitics. Understanding this balance will be key to navigating the months ahead.
Few countries shape global wheat trade like Egypt. Still the world’s largest wheat importer — buying around 12–13 MMT annually — Egypt remains the ultimate benchmark for MENA grain trade, with every procurement reform in Cairo sending ripples through global markets.
Record harvests alone no longer guarantee competitive grain prices. For millers, shipping routes, freight indices, energy costs, and climate-driven disruptions now weigh as heavily as yields in shaping margins. Logistics has become the true battleground of grain competitiveness.
Another record harvest is expected for the global grains market in 2025/26, however, sentiment is far from uniformly bearish. Although overall supply and demand balances point to comfortable availabilities, each grain is showing its own dynamics.
At IDMA Istanbul, the industry witnessed the debut of two initiatives by Parantez Media:
Simultaneously organized with IDMA Istanbul, the fifth edition of TABADER’s now customary Doyens Award Ceremony took place on May 2nd at Wow Hotel.
The global grain processing industry convened in Istanbul. The domestic sector, specializing in flour, grain, feed, pulses production equipment, and milling machinery, crucially exporting 90 percent of its output, gathered with over 10,000 professionals from 120 countries at the 10th IDMA Istanbul.
In an exclusive interview during the IDMA Expo in Istanbul, Moulay Abdelkadir Alalaoui, President of the Moroccan Flour Milling Federation (FNM), provides a comprehensive overview of the state of flour milling in Morocco and its relationship with Turkey.
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06 December 2013 18 min reading
COUNTRY PROFILE
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