ALEXANDRU COITA, BRM: "The Commodities Exchange supports the fiscalization of the stocks of grains traded on the market"

The trading of grains on the exchange, in a transparent environment, represents a solution for the current needs of the agricultural market, said Alexandru Coita, director of strategy with the Romanian Commodities Exchange (BRM). "The Commodities Exchange supports the taxation of the traded stocks of grains and will help absorb the price shocks", he said, and he emphasized that the Romanian Commodities Exchange takes on the role of integrator of the market for transactions and wants to see increased liquidity in the grain market.

Among the benefits of trading on the exchange, the representative of the Romanian Commodities Exchange has listed increased market liquidity, the taxation of the trades, a fair price for farmers, the availability of varied instruments which allow producers and processors to exploit the trends of the market, as well as instruments to protect farmers against risks.

Alexandru Coita also said: "Together with the authorities, the BRM participates in the finalization of the guidelines for the application of the law no. 101/2014 concerning the new status of the warehouse certificates, which we hope will be ready soon.

The administrator of the Sole Registry of Warehouse Certificates is a referee which plays a key role in guaranteeing a predictable and stable trading environment. The new system will lead to the development of new credit and trade finance instruments to increase the flexibility of the trading options made available to farmers and processors by the BRM".

This year, the turnover of grain trades on the BRM was approximately 90 million Euros, Mr. Coita said, and he added that an increasing number of farmers use the tools made available by the Commodities Exchange.

According to the data presented by Mr. Coita, this year, 400,000 tons of wheat, 30,000 tons of vegetable oil and 20,000 tons of processed sugar were traded on the BRM, while the number of participants exceeded 100.

The head of the BRM also said that the Ministry of Agriculture supports the development of our grain market. To that end, last year, the Government signed a memorandum which outlines the strategy to create the exchange ring for agricultural commodities. In doing so, the Ministry will provide the Exchange will all the data concerning grains transactions, which is also sent to Brussels.

Mr. Coita further explained that the BRM also has partnerships with the main associations in the sector, and its goal is to issue quotes which would be used as a national benchmark.