Albania’s dependence on grain imports has increased in 2025 amid a decline in domestic production and an increase in abandoned farmland, with Serbia becoming the main supplier of grain, the Serbian Economist reports, according to Pamfleti website.
Albania imported more than 374,000 tons of grain in 2025, almost 40,000 tons more than in 2024, with wheat and corn being the main imports.
Agro-economist Zef Gjeta linked the increase in imports to the lack of real reforms and public funding of the agro-sector, emphasizing that without support for farmers, the country loses its production potential and becomes more dependent on external supplies.
The structure of supplies has changed – Serbia has become the first exporter of grain to Albania, while previously significant volumes came from Russia and Romania. At the same time, procurement costs, according to the source’s assessment, remained close to 2024 levels due to shorter logistics and the strengthening of Albania’s national currency, despite the increase in physical volumes.
Albania also exported 248 tons of grain worth about 28 million lek, almost double the amount from a year earlier, but these volumes remain small. The country’s farmland area is estimated at about 700,000 hectares, with the area under cereal crops shrinking and the area of abandoned land growing, experts warned.
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Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, processed 995,000 tons of oilseeds in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 (FY, October-December 2025), which is 2% more than in the same period last year and 78% more than in the previous quarter, the agricultural holding reported in its quarterly report.
It specified that sunflower seeds accounted for 85% of the total volume, with the remainder being soybeans, which were processed to partially offset the impact of limited availability of sunflower seeds on the domestic market.
According to the agricultural holding, oilseed processing volumes in July-December 2025 decreased by 6% compared to the same period last year, to 1.6 million tons, which is a result of a decrease in processing volumes under tolling agreements compared to the corresponding figure a year ago.
Sales of Kernel edible oil in the second quarter of 2026 amounted to 411 thousand tons, which is at the level of the same period last year, but the total figure for the first half of the year exceeded the result for the same period a year ago by 30% due to higher oilseed processing volumes. Bottled sunflower oil accounted for 17 thousand tons of total sales.
Silos received 2.3 million tons in the second quarter of 2026 FY, reaching 3.5 million tons in the first six months of 2026 FY.
“The 35% increase on an annualized basis was supported by higher overall grain availability due to increased corn yields in the group’s own agricultural segment, as well as increased grain consumption from third-party suppliers,” the agricultural holding explained.
Kernel’s grain exports reached 1.5 million tons in the second quarter of FY 2026, up 21% from the previous quarter. On an annualized basis, volumes increased by 10%, mainly reflecting the low comparative base of the previous year. The agricultural holding added that overall export rates remained limited due to delays in the harvesting campaign and continued slow sales to farmers.
The throughput capacity of Kernel’s export terminal in the second quarter of 2026 FY was 2.5 million tons, up 35% compared to the previous quarter. Grain crops accounted for 71% of total shipments, edible oils for 16%, and vegetable meal for the rest.
“At the same time, over the six months, the throughput capacity of the terminals decreased by 11% compared to the same period last year amid intensified Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and the Danube in the Odesa region, which led to prolonged disturbances and disruptions in the operation of the group’s terminals,” the agricultural holding stated.
Kernel recalled that in October-December 2025, Russian drones twice damaged the group’s port infrastructure in the Odesa region, including vegetable oil storage tanks and a number of production facilities. Preliminary estimates indicate a loss of approximately 500 tons of sunflower oil.
Before the war, Kernel was the world’s leading producer of sunflower oil (about 7% of global production) and its exporter (about 12%). It is one of the largest producers and sellers of bottled oil in Ukraine. It is also involved in the cultivation and sale of agricultural products.
The elevators of the Zakhidny Bug group of companies received over 320,000 tons of grain in 2025, according to a Facebook post by the agricultural holding’s press service.
According to the report, the Zakhidny Bug seed plant produced over 13,000 tons of seeds in 2025.
In total, the group’s fields harvested 82,700 tons of winter wheat, 77,500 tons of corn, 26,700 tons of barley, 70,000 tons of soybeans, and 22,300 tons of rapeseed in 2025. The company also harvested hard wheat varieties: 18,200 tons of winter wheat and 3,450 tons of spring wheat.
PP “Zakhidny Bug” was founded in 2003 and specializes in growing grain and industrial crops. It owns a land bank of 65,000 hectares in the Lviv, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, and Volyn regions.
The company is building Ukraine’s first mill to process durum wheat, as well as a pasta factory. The projected capacity of the first stage of the mill is 80 tons per day for durum wheat and 150 tons per day for soft wheat varieties. The second stage will increase the capacity by another 200 tons for durum wheat and 300 tons for soft varieties. The total investment in the project is UAH 1 billion.
The beneficiaries of the enterprise are Oksana Drul (30%), Valery Ovcharuk (30%), and Yuriy Gladun (30%).
In its January review, the International Grains Council (IGC, headquartered in London) raised its forecast for global grain harvest in 2025/26 (July-June) by 31 million tons to a record 2 billion 461 million tons.
This is primarily due to improved forecasts for corn harvests, mainly in the US and China, and barley harvests in Canada and Australia.
In the 2024/25 season, the harvest amounted to 2 billion 238 million tons.
“Thanks to an increase in yield (by 5%) and an increase in acreage (by 1%), the grain harvest in the 2025/26 season will break all existing records. In addition to record corn and wheat harvests, barley and sorghum harvests are also expected to reach multi-year highs,” the review says.
The estimate for grain consumption has been raised by 16 million tons to 2.416 billion tons. Carryover stocks at the end of the season are forecast at 634 million tons, which is almost 16 million tons higher than the previous estimate.
Global trade this season is estimated at 446 million tons, which is 4 million tons higher than the previous forecast and 5% higher on an annualized basis.
The wheat harvest forecast has risen to 842 million tons, which is 12 million tons higher than the previous estimate. In the 2024/25 season, the harvest amounted to 801 million tons. “It is expected that in the 2026/27 season, the area sown with wheat will decrease slightly, and assuming average yields in the next season, the harvest is preliminarily forecast to decline by about 2%,” the review says. “As demand has reached a new peak, a slight reduction in global stocks is expected, but aggregate stocks in major exporting countries will remain at comfortable levels.”
The corn harvest forecast for the 2025/26 season has been raised to 1.313 billion tons from the previous 1.298 billion tons. Last season, 1.238 billion tons were harvested.
The estimate for global rice production has remained virtually unchanged at 543 million tons. Taking into account a slight decline in consumption, stocks at the end of the 2025/26 season will increase by 2 million tons. Expectations for global trade volume in calendar year 2026 have declined slightly, but at 60 million tons (a 2% increase), it will still be a record high, the review notes.
Earlier, the Experts Club analytical center presented a video analysis of global grain production by leading agricultural countries in the period 1991-2024. The video is available here: https://youtube.com/shorts/2XwiBWf9GrM?si=F9-QsXbWRl2jqV8M
Ukraine’s total elevator capacity at the end of 2025 increased to 52.67 million tons of simultaneous grain storage, compared to 52.1 million tons in October 2024, according to the industry online publication Elevatorist.com.
“The increase in elevator capacity over the year amounted to about 0.5 million tons (1.1%), despite infrastructure losses due to hostilities and the difficult economic situation in the industry,” the publication noted.
The growth was driven by the commissioning of new elevators, the expansion of existing capacities, and the implementation of investment projects, mainly in the central and western regions of Ukraine.
Currently, the top three regions in terms of elevator capacity are Poltava with 5.58 million tons, Odesa with 5.45 million tons, and Vinnytsia with 4.45 million tons, Elevatorist.com noted.
According to the results of 2025, the Agroprosperis agricultural group ranked among the top five exporters of agricultural products from Ukraine, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, the agricultural group exported 3 million tons of agricultural products and processed 20,000 tons of oil products. The ship Agroprospwris 1, which set sail at the beginning of last year, has already delivered grain from Ukrainian ports to ports in Europe, Nigeria, Brazil, and other countries.
“We continue to work, overcome challenges, confidently move towards our goal, and together achieve significant results,” the group assured.
According to a number of industry media outlets, the top five grain exporters from Ukraine in 2024/25 MY include the Kernel agricultural holding, grain traders Louis Dreyfus, ADM, Cargill, and Nibulon.
The Agroprosperis group of companies provides a full range of products and services for growing grain and oilseeds, financing their production, as well as storage and further export. Before the war, it cultivated 430,000 hectares in the Sumy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv regions. Its total storage capacity is 800,000 tons of agricultural crops. The group grew and supplied more than 2 million tons of grain and oilseeds for export per year.
Agroprosperis conducts its operations through five divisions: Golden Sunrise (Agro), Bio Agro, Ray Agro, Latagro, New Agro Management, and provides financing to Ukrainian grain producers through Agroprosperis Bank.
