Continental’s elevator facilities with a capacity of 634,000 tons are being prepared to receive the 2025 grain harvest. Repair work, comprehensive cleaning, and disinfection of silos are being completed, after which the new harvest will begin to arrive at the elevators, the agricultural holding’s press service reported on Facebook.
Continental specified that the agricultural holding’s six elevators and three drying and grain complexes are located in the Ternopil, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions and process corn, wheat, rapeseed, sunflower, barley, and soybeans.
At the same time, the launch of a new sourcing business has seriously transformed the operating cycle of elevator farms. Since last season, Continental has been implementing a program to purchase grain from third-party depositors, mostly farmers, and providing storage and cleaning services. As a result, the period for accepting products at grain storage facilities has increased from the usual 5-6 months to 11 months per year, from July to May inclusive. Their work is suspended only for the planned shipment of accumulated residues and preparatory measures before the new season.
According to Serhii Zymnyi, head of the finished product storage department at Continental Farmers Group, the additional load on elevator capacities last year amounted to 15% of their own volume. Further increases in purchases are planned for this season, so this figure could reach 30-40%.
“We are forecasting an intense season with high loads, especially at our facilities in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, which, due to market conditions, are currently seeing the highest level of purchases from third-party depositors. We plan to work continuously on both receiving and shipping products by road and rail, ensuring fast service for our own grain and providing quality services to external customers,” Zimny said.
Continental added that during the year it implemented a large-scale training program for employees — laboratory assistants, engineering and technical workers, power engineers, and electricians, including specialized courses in programming and ergonomic equipment management to reduce energy consumption. This will improve the efficiency of production processes and optimize electricity consumption.
Agroholding Mriya and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya signed an agreement with international investor Salic UK to sell its assets.
Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock production.
