“Grain and Processing 2026”: Challenges Facing the Grain Processing Industry
We were glad to take part in the Grain and Processing 2026 conference — a platform for open professional dialogue about the realities facing Ukraine’s grain processing industry today.
The discussions focused on wheat yields and quality, raw material availability, logistics, and exports. In particular, participants noted that growing durum wheat has become more challenging due to the loss of access to some of the traditional southern production regions.
Logistics was another major topic. During the conference, transportation costs of around $85 per tonne of grain were mentioned, which have a significant impact on production costs.
The perspective from neighboring Moldova was also of particular interest. The President of Moldova’s milling industry association spoke about the strong demand for Ukrainian flour and specifically highlighted its quality.
One of the key messages of the conference was that a significant share of Ukrainian flour mills and grain processing facilities were built during the Soviet era and now require modernization. However, for many companies today, the immediate priority is not large-scale investment, but retaining their teams, maintaining stable operations, and staying resilient — so that they can increase production volumes and modernize their facilities in the future.
It was also encouraging to see the importance of efficient aspiration systems discussed as an integral part of modern grain processing. We thank our partners at OLIS and Oleksandr Vereshchynskyi for many years of cooperation and for highlighting Grain Capital’s expertise in aspiration systems while discussing integrated technological solutions.
We thank the organizers and participants for the insightful professional discussion. This kind of exchange of experience and open dialogue about the current state of the industry is especially important today.
