Weak buyer demand dulls trading on Novi Sad Commodity Exchange, with corn and wheat leading

Trading activity on the Product Exchange Novi Sad eased over the latest week, underscoring a persistent imbalance between supply and demand across Serbia’s agricultural markets. Although wheat and corn continued to dominate volumes, overall activity declined as processors and traders took a more cautious approach.

Corn: wider supply, subdued demand

Corn trading highlighted the gap most clearly. Supply increased noticeably and was offered across a broad price range, reflecting differences tied to delivery parity and quality factors including aflatoxin testing. Demand, however, remained subdued, with transactions carried out in smaller quantities than in prior periods.

Contracts were concluded between RSD 22.10 and RSD 22.50 per kilogram, with a weighted average of RSD 22.30/kg—down 1.33% week-on-week.

Wheat: supply-led pressure as buying interest fades

The wheat market followed a similar pattern. Supply outpaced demand and buyer interest weakened versus earlier weeks. Wheat with 12% protein content traded at around RSD 21.20/kg, up only 0.21% week-on-week.

As the trading period progressed, demand softened further and effectively halted additional transactions.

Thin liquidity beyond core grains

Across other agricultural commodities, inactivity was even more pronounced. Soybean trading did not materialise despite downward price adjustments on the supply side; buyers continued to bid below seller expectations. Barley offers were largely unanswered, pointing to limited market depth outside the core grain segments.

What it signals for prices and market structure

Taken together, the week’s results point to supply-driven pricing pressure in a low-liquidity environment. Higher availability of key crops combined with restrained purchasing is pushing prices into a narrow but downward-leaning corridor—particularly for corn.

More broadly, the trading pattern suggests a transitional phase: producers appear willing to release volumes while buyers hold back, likely anticipating either further price corrections or clearer signals from export markets and regional demand. In that sense, activity on the Novi Sad exchange reflects not just short-term fluctuations but a structural condition increasingly visible in regional commodity markets—where price discovery is influenced less by scarcity than by uncertainty around demand, leaving liquidity as the binding constraint.