Continental announces investment plans for next year

Continental Farmers Group plans to invest $60–70 million next year, CEO Georg von Nolcken told journalists during a press tour.

“We have the first draft of the 2026 budget, which provides for around $60–70 million in investments. This includes standard fleet renewal and several other projects. Of course, this is not just for next year — we plan investments several years ahead. Over the next three to four years, I believe we will continue to develop production and trading, infrastructure and logistics. Another part of our future strategy is processing,” von Nolcken said.

According to him, trading allows the company to cover the entire agricultural production chain by adding the “elevator–railcars–terminal” link. This gives it a competitive edge over traders who operate without their own logistics and storage.

“Another point is that major international traders have their own destination markets where they work directly with clients. But quite often, they don’t control logistics, lack their own inland elevators, and are missing this part of the chain. That’s why we are now focusing on trading. Of course, we also buy CPT at port and sell our own harvest — 80–90% we sell either FOB or CIF,” the CEO said.

In 2025, Continental exported around 600,000 tons of grain through trading. The target by year-end is 1.2–1.4 million tons from both own harvest and trading operations — about 1.1 million tons from Ukraine and 200,000–300,000 tons from Romania.

“A seaport terminal is part of our infrastructure and logistics development strategy. We are now analyzing whether this should be greenfield construction, the purchase of an existing facility, or cooperation with a partner. We are open to all options,” von Nolcken added.