Where are the International grains markets?

The market where international trades in grains are concluded does not have a single location.  There is a Grains Trade Convention to which the members (read countries) that are major role players in the international grains market are participants.

The reality is that both importers (buyers) and exporters (sellers) are signatories to the convention and they usually do the trades on the market in the country where the seller is located.  Currently the grain trades are always somehow referenced to the trades on one of the major exchanges in the USA.  Most Corn deals are referenced to the Chicago Board of Trade while Wheat would be referenced to either Chicago or Kansas.

As other countries are also involved and this would include Argentine, Germany, several of the former USSR republics and Australia.  As one can appreciate the issue has become not merely the price of the grain but also the price of transport to get it to the destination.

As an example one would find that Corn would trade at a specific price on the CBOT market while the end user in a country somewhere in Africa will get the imported maize at a price of up to 3 times as much.

In terms of specific products and markets - one interesting fact is that although grain that is known as Corn in the USA is known as Yellow Maize in Africa.  While the rest of the world produce yellow maize and it is seen as the most efficient product Africa for some reason will just not use yellow maize.

I would now try to look at the factors affecting prices.

JD