65th European Commodity Exchange in Berlin on 15 and 16 October
Once a year, companies and business people who deal in grain, oilseeds or animal feed on a large scale meet at the European Commodities Exchange. This European Commodities Exchange is almost always held in mid-October in a major European city, often in the capital of a country.
In 2024, the 64th Bourse de Commerce Européenne took place in Paris, due to the Olympic Games, not until the beginning of December. (1) The Grand Palais, built for the 1900 World's Fair, brought together 120 exhibitors and more than 4,000 representatives of the agricultural commodities industry under the largest glass roof in Europe. Two renowned scientists who spoke on the topic of climate change were also invited. The next European Commodities Exchange will be held on 15 and 16 October at the Berlin Exhibition Centre. (2) The event is organised by four German exchanges that have joined forces to form Deutsche Warenbörsen GmbH.
Over the past decades, the annual meetings of the European grain and feed industry have become attractive events attended by thousands of market participants from all over Europe and beyond. Representatives from the fertiliser and animal feed industries as well as service providers such as banks, transport and insurance companies are also in attendance. Well over 3,000 people from all over the world are expected to attend what is probably the most important industry event in Berlin, according to Wilhelm Christian Plössl, President of the European Commodity Exchange in Strasbourg. These exchanges are usually organised by one of the 39 European exchanges from twelve countries (not commodity exchanges in the strict sense) that have joined forces to form the ‘Bourse de Commerce Européenne’. (3)
The European Commodity Exchange Association, registered at the Strasbourg District Court, has made the organisation of these European ‘Exchange Days’ its main task. Strasbourg was chosen because of its central location and proximity to European institutions. The association is made up of 38 exchanges in eleven European countries and one exchange from Turkey. It is truly European in nature, as according to its statutes, the president, vice-president and treasurer must each come from a different country. (4) The exchanges in the association compete to host the annual two-day event. The exchange that receives the most votes becomes the organiser of a European Commodities Exchange: in 2023 it was the Warsaw Exchange, in 2022 Valencia and in 2021 Copenhagen. Due to the pandemic, the exchange days planned for Berlin in 2020 had to be cancelled.
Exchange days are good for business – and for networking
Of course, these exchange days are intended to serve business. But they also serve as a meeting place. The European Commodities Exchange is one of countless initiatives that make Europe tangible and experiential for everyone involved. Wilhelm Christian Plössl, also President of the European Commodities Exchange in 2010, wrote in the brochure marking its 50th anniversary: ‘This association is a modest but vibrant part of European economic history. Our primary concern is to establish, renew, maintain and deepen contacts with one another and ultimately to use and profit from them.’ (5)
How it all began: The European Commodity Exchange had its beginnings in an initiative by the exchanges of Mannheim, Munich, Stuttgart, Würzburg and Strasbourg, ‘which had been working together since 1957 to develop a series of Franco-German model contracts for the grain trade.’ (6) The first European Stock Exchange Days took place in Strasbourg from 1961 to 1965. In 1966, the European Commodity Exchange began its ‘journey’ through Europe, starting in Frankfurt am Main. In 1971, it took on the legal form of an association registered with the Strasbourg District Court.
During the decades of ‘real existing socialism’, there were no exchanges in countries beyond the Iron Curtain. This has since been rectified for Poland and Hungary, and the Warsaw and Budapest exchanges are now members of the European Commodity Exchange. In Prague, the Südwestdeutsche Warenbörsen e.V. operates the Karlsbörse, which took place for the ninth time in March 2025 (7). ‘With around 1,000 participants at the last event, it is also enjoying growing popularity,’ says Karl-Heinz Schober from the board of the Südwestdeutsche Warenbörsen e.V.
Margit Reiser-Schober
Error in the content? Error in the translation? – eurolandpost(at)gmx.eu
(1) 64th European Commodities Exchange
https://www.paris-ece2024.eu/storage/uploads/10d641fe-4d8f-41b0-80f6-3627a30efe35/24ECE_plaquette-A4_EN-WEB.pdf
(2) 65th European Commodities Exchange
https://www.ece-berlin2025.com/
(3) Europäische Warenbörse
https://www.bourse-europeenne.com/de/home/
(4) Satzung der Europäischen Warenbörse
https://www.bourse-europeenne.com/de/satzung/
(5) Broschüre, herausgegeben 2010 aus Anlass 50 Jahre European Commodities Exchange
Seite 32: Einführung
(6) Broschüre, herausgegeben 2010 aus Anlass 50 Jahre European Commodities Exchange
Seiten 34 und 35: Chronologischer Werdegang seit 1960
(7) Karlsbörse Prag
https://karlsboerse.de/