New Bulgarian terminal at Varna port

Buildcom Group – Bulgaria’s largest privately-held sunflower oil producer and leading grain trader – will be co-financing a new grain storage and transportation terminal at the Black Sea port of Varna (pictured), World Grain reported on 28 June.

Due to become operational in the second quarter of 2026, the new terminal would comprise a quay, silo and other storage facilities alongside a new railway and road access.

“The new terminal will provide local grain producers with … access to liquid international markets,” said Julian Stefanov, CEO of Logistic Centre Varna EAD, part of the Buildcom group. “It will be an important gateway for Bulgarian grain exports and will increase the country’s competitiveness in maritime transportation.”

The terminal was co-financed with a US$54.6M loan from a European Investment Bank (EIB) EIB – the long-term financing institution of the EU.

Depth restrictions at Panama Canal due to shallow water

The Panama Canal Authority has tightened restrictions on ships using the waterway – one of the world’s busiest trade routes linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans – due to shallow water levels caused by drought conditions, Reuters reported on 22 June.

The measure follows a series of depth restrictions in the 80km canal since the beginning of the year due to drought, which authorities had hoped would ease by the start of the Central American country’s rainy season.

Introduced on 25 June, the new restrictions limited neo-Panamax container ships to a depth limit of 43.5ft (13.3m) – compared to the maximum draft of 44ft (13.4m) – which meant they must either carry less cargo or reduce their weight, Reuters wrote.

Panamax ships, which use the canal’s older locks and in which the majority of oilseeds are carried, were also expected to face tighter rules, the port administration told clients in an advisory seen by Reuters El Niño weather patterns had brought a severe drought along the Pacific coast, the report said.

Port administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said the flow of ships through the canal had continued as expected to date. However, the flow could be affected by levels of rainfall and higher route costs due to the new limits, he added.

USA: The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has approved German chemical giant Bayer’s short-stature genetically modified (GM) corn for use in the USA, World Grain reports.

“This plant may be safely grown and bred in the United States,” the USDA said in a notice on 6 June.

Bayer CropScience modified the corn plant to reduce gibberellic acid, a plant growth hormone, to produce shorter plants and reduce the likelihood of lodging (stem buckling), the 6 June World Grain report said.

APHIS ruled that the GM plant, which is about a third the size of current varieties, was “unlikely to pose an increased plant pest risk compared to other cultivated corn plants”.

As the plant was shorter than a typical corn stalk, it could better withstand strong winds that damaged crops and also made it easier for farmers to apply chemicals during growing season, the USDA added.

Bayer was reported as saying it still needed approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and importing countries before it could launch the corn in the USA, something it hoped to do in the next few years.

Bayer estimated that sales of short-stature corn in North America could reach €1bn (US$1.07bn), World Grain wrote.