Speaking exclusively to Feed Planet to evaluate the insights from the IGC Grains Conference in London, IGC Director Arnaud Petit details how squeezed market margins are reshaping global planting choices and accelerating the shift toward AI-driven logistics. Highlighting global dynamics from paperless trade corridors to gene-editing tools, Petit also underscores Turkey’s strategic evolution from flour export dominance to a high-end milling technology hub as a major value-added success.
Arnaud Petit
IGC Director
Today, the global agricultural commodities market faces a new paradigm where not only physical logistical bottlenecks but also trade policies and technological infrastructures are being radically reshaped. As the industry abandons traditional silo approaches to rapidly adopt AI-driven decision-making mechanisms and digital documentation processes, domestic investments by importing nations are shifting global trade lines.
Evaluating the insights from the IGC Grains Conference in London for Feed Planet, this exclusive interview with IGC Director Arnaud Petit addresses critical topics ranging from the impact of low-price environments on global raw material availability to the evolving relationship between agricultural innovation and trade. Outlining a global perspective on safeguarding food security in the Middle East and Africa, Petit describes the evolution of the Turkish milling industry moving from a pure product exporter to a high-end milling technology hub as a strategic milestone, adding: “The Turkish milling industry is definitely in the right direction!”
One of the core themes in London at the IGC Grain Conference 2026 was the low market price environment. What is the IGC’s strategic outlook on how these squeezed margins will alter upcoming planting choices and global raw material availability?
Farmers might limit or squeeze the last fertilizer application for wheat production in order to save fertilizer for the next cropping season, which would have a limited impact on the volume produced. The main factor to monitor will be the wheat quality criteria. The cost of fertilizer would have a greater impact for farmers who can shift from Maize to Soybeans, particularly in the USA. It is too early to quantify the potential impact for the next planting season as the El Niño always has the potential to change the supply of the major commodities.
Given the IGC’s co-leadership of the inaugural “Smart Global Grains Trade Challenge”, which aims to drive digitalization in trade, how critical is the rapid adoption of AI insights and digital documentation in overcoming current maritime corridor bottlenecks?
The speed of adoption is growing fast and not just in the major companies. The fascinating development is about projects that want to automate the connection between various actors of the grain value chain. EdoxOnline and Javelot-Agriculture are in this vein. We are not in a silo approach anymore. New projects are trying to interconnect the physical movement of grain with more support from Artificial Intelligence for the decision making process. If these new advanced tools cannot help to sort out a blockade of a corridor they can identify more quickly alternative routes for deliveries and turn them into concrete solutions.
The 4th High-Level Dialogue Meeting, held within the IGC framework, focused on food system resilience in the Middle East and Africa. What immediate trade policy steps are required to protect these regions from compounding currency and fertilizer shocks?
The 4th edition was an opportunity to take stock of the initiatives taken by countries to improve their food system resilience and continue to be connected to trade. Two messages were clear from the discussion. First of all, trade is definitely part of the solution and restrictions on trade can only hamper the importing countries, particularly on the African continent. The Ambassador of the Republic of Mauritius advocated for the implementation of the free trade agreement across Africa. The second message is about the necessity to rethink the relationship between trade and innovation. Improved productivity in the grain sector will be possible by allowing the trade of innovative products. The Conference has been an occasion to set up a platform of dialogue between the seed sector, the trading industry and policymakers to elaborate solutions to facilitate the trade of products issued from gene-editing tools.
As importing nations invest in domestic milling, Türkiye’s role is evolving from a pure flour exporter toward high-end milling tech and pasta. How does the IGC view the future of this value-added trade model?
Türkiye is occupying a strategic position and not only in the flour trade. Its geographical position allows Turkish companies to trade easily with the Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia. This specific advantage will not change even if we see some market fragmentation. Therefore, it makes sense for the high-end milling industry to develop further processed products to supply markets in development. Just bear in mind that Africa and South Asia remain the most dynamic markets in terms of wheat-based product consumption. On top of that, we have seen a lot of projects for grain hub development. However, all these projects will face economic limits as the handling of grain can turn out to be very expensive in terms of time and money. The Turkish milling industry is definitely in the right direction!