Italian importers rush to buy corn on war fears, despite flat feed demand

Italian corn importers are aggressively stocking up on Ukrainian corn despite weak domestic feed demand, as fears that the Middle East conflict could drive prices higher trigger a wave of precautionary buying, traders said.

Italian importers are stepping up purchases and building corn stocks to hedge against potential price spikes linked to the conflict, even though feed consumption in the country remains subdued, according to multiple market participants.

A buyer from an Italian feed mill said, "Demand is weak in Italy, but I guess traders are trying to collect as much as they can." An Italy-based importer also noted that several buyers are purchasing corn and holding it in storage to avoid price risks posed by the war.

"The conflict has stuck everything here in Italy; it's very complicated to trade any deferred position," a second Italian trader said. "Any trading house living moment by moment is trying to avoid sudden purchases, but consumption demand is not following this nervousness, so demand from feed is zero."

Italy has emerged as one of the top buyers of Ukrainian corn for the 2025-26 season, and the buying spree has intensified over the past two weeks, with several trades reported for two- and three-month forward loading.

"Demand is seen for Ukrainian corn only from Italy so far," a seller from Ukraine said.

Traders said some importers are even paying above prevailing market levels to secure volume. During the week, a trade was reported for a CIF East Coast Italy June shipment at $254/mt, and one trader said he "bought at $2/mt more than he could have done."

Another Italy-based trader said spot demand in the corn market remains "calm," adding that buyers are currently not overly concerned about their immediate purchasing needs.

A distributor in the Italian market said, "Final consumers are covered for more than one month, and I don't see any increase in terms of requests."

Meanwhile, several buying ideas for CIF purchases of Ukrainian corn are being heard in the market in a range of $246/mt to $250/mt for smaller cargoes, depending on the shipment period.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed Ukraine corn FOB POC at $225/mt on March 12, up $2.50/mt since Feb. 27, a day before the conflict started.