Continental Farmers Group is expanding its logistics capacities by forming its own fleet of grain carriers, which has already received the first 50 of 250 planned 116 cubic meter hopper cars, the company’s press service reports.
According to the report, the large-cube cars will allow the agricultural holding to maximize their carrying capacity (up to 70.5 tons) when transporting all major crops grown on Continental’s fields. According to the contract, the agricultural holding plans to receive the remaining railcars in several batches over the coming months.
According to Georg von Nolken, CEO of Continental Farmers Group, the decision to purchase its own grain wagons is the next logical step for the agricultural holding after the acquisition of two new elevators. Continental acquired the storage facilities in Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions in 2021 and 2024, respectively, he reminded.
“We continue to confidently implement our strategy to develop our own supply chain despite all the difficulties caused by the current situation in the country. After Continental solved the problem of elevator capacity shortage and even created the opportunity to provide services for third parties, the acquisition of the railcar fleet allows us to continue to provide logistics for our own trading and develop this area of work properly,” explained Georg von Nolken.
Continental expects that after delivery of all 250 ordered grain wagons, it will be able to cover a significant part of its annual demand for rail freight transportation with its own rolling stock. The rest, as before, will be met by outsourcing freight forwarding services.
The decision to further expand the Continental railcar fleet will depend on the level of efficiency of the chosen management model and market conditions in the coming seasons, the agricultural holding said.
Mriya Agro Holding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya entered into 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.
