BRICS have the world’s largest grain traders in their sights

Source: Swissinfo (EN) | Original Published At: 2026-08-28 07:00:00 UTC

Key Points

• BRICS competition authorities met in Geneva on July 9 and established a task force to conduct the bloc's first joint sector inquiry into the global grain trade.
• The inquiry will examine the market dominance of major grain traders ADM, Bunge, COFCO, Cargill and LDC, collectively known as ABCD+.
• The task force will be co-chaired by the competition authorities of Brazil and Egypt, with findings expected at the BRICS International Competition Conference in Brazil in September 2027.
• BRICS countries account for about 44% of global grain production and 25% of global grain consumption, making grain market dominance a strategic concern for the bloc.
• BRICS authorities are also considering collective scrutiny of digital grain trading platforms such as Covantis, which is owned by major grain traders.
• A proposed BRICS grain exchange remains in concept stage and aims to create independent price benchmarks and enable local-currency grain trading.