Commoditrader, the digital platform for online trading of agricultural products, launched in Romania last autumn, concludes a strategic partnership with the Corn Producers Association of Romania (APPR). The objective of the project is to support the Romanian farmer to have access to information about the local and international trading market for corn and cereals, to access more direct business partners, benefiting from a competitive and a more transparent market and favorable negotiation conditions while giving buyers easier access to the farmers.
Commoditrader and APPR aim to create better trading conditions and access to both the local and the global market for Romanian corn and cereal producers through an online market, where local, international and foreign commercial houses can bid on corn produced in the Romanian farms. The collaboration is based on a common understanding to work for farmers and in their interest. The platform will be offered as a free trading service, and the farmer will be able to use it to inquire about the prices of corn and agricultural products, to list their products and to sell or buy.
The two entities will initiate joint projects such as meetings and events dedicated to farmers to provide them with useful information to efficiently manage their farm and to create better cooperation in the field of agricultural goods trade.
Romania is one of the largest agricultural markets in Europe, therefore very important for us, and the first in which we launched the Commoditrader platform outside Denmark, where the platform was originally developed in collaboration with farmers and farmers’ associations. Through the partnership with APPR, we want to offer the farmers of the association the opportunity to market their agricultural products in transparent conditions of market and price. If until now farmers were forced to sell their crops during the campaign because they did not have adequate storage conditions or they were completely lacking, through our platform they can access, for example, varied partners such as feed mills or farms, from whom to obtain better prices, says Ida Boesen, Co-founder of the Danish company.
Commoditrader is a digital marketplace easily accessible and free of charge by any farmer or player in the agricultural field, by creating a user profile, which can be buyer, seller or both. The user can segment his target market, by listing ads visible only to farmers or traders that match the profile they are looking for. The prices of agricultural goods traded on the platform are transparent, including the cost of transportation. The platform also offers transport solutions, or the user can collaborate with his own supplier, and Commoditrader calculates all the logistical costs related, to make all offers comparable. Also, the farmer pays only for the financial services added to his choice, such as commercial credit insurance that is to be added to the platform as a service later.
APPR is a professional association of agricultural producers and representatives of the professional maize chain in Romania. Its main objective is to provide technical expertise, economic, technological and professional information to its members and to the professional organizations of farmers in Romania. Through its solutions, APPR aims to support the Romanian farmer to obtain a better management of the farm.
“We are very interested to bring the farmers together. Currently, APPR brings together about 500 local farmers and small organizations working together 500 thousand ha of agricultural land. Through our activity, we aim to provide them with technical, economic, legislative and commercial information, which will have a positive impact on the farm and the activity of the farmer”, said Alina Crețu, Executive Director, The Corn Producers Association of Romania. The partnership with Commoditrader is part of our strategy for the next period, which aims to help farmers to market their agricultural products in the most advantageous and transparent market conditions, continues Alina Crețu.
