Constanta Enters the Premier League of Grain Trade – CME Launches a New Contract for Black Sea Wheat

Monday, on 2nd of June 2025, the American exchange CME (the largest futures exchange in the world) will list a new contract for wheat originating from the Black Sea region CVB (Constanța - Varna - Burgas).
Even though the Chicago exchange has previously listed contracts for the Black Sea region, this time the port of Constanța is mentioned as the lead of basis ports for the listed contract!

Why is this news important? For several reasons, including:

• Farmers and traders in the region who have started managing risk through hedging using exchange-traded contracts now have a more relevant regional wheat contract. Until now, the main alternative was the Euronext (MATIF) wheat contract, which is based on delivery ports in France.

• It can help increase price transparency in the region.

• The image of the Constanța port and the region: the fact that the American exchange decided to list a contract that explicitly mentions Constanța shows that there is strong interest for this region — a development that arguably places us in the premier league of global grain trade!

Still, let’s not get too excited just yet. CME has listed several contracts for the Black Sea region in the past, and some didn’t last long...

Will this contract be successful?

Hard to say — we know this is a complex region!
The culture and appetite for hedging in Romania using exchange-listed contracts, while growing, are still not very developed. Also, the number of firms that facilitate or support this process in Romania is relatively small.
Moreover, a large portion of transactions in the Black Sea basin are conducted through tenders organized by various states (e.g., Egypt, Algeria...), which may be reluctant to engage in hedging through exchange traded contracts.
Lastly, the Euronext (MATIF) milling wheat contract — the American exchange's regional competitor — has the advantage of being a deliverable contract, making it more relevant to the physical market than CME’s new financially settled contract.

In any case, it’s still promising news! Something to keep an eye on...