A giant grain silo in the Polish city of Szczecin, close to the border with Germany, is being liquidated, giving rise to concerns that the business will get taken by Germany and lead to higher costs for farmers in bordering regions.
According to daily Rzeczpospolita, an American company is buying the facility and plans to store chemicals rather than grain there.
The silo in Szczecin is important for Polish farmers since it handles approximately 650,000 tons of grain and animal feed per year, representing 6 percent of total Polish exports. Polish farmers would now be forced to travel 350 kilometers to Gdańsk, unless they travel 130 kilometers to the Mukran Port in Germany.
Grain exporters are asking for the government to take action, especially as the silo in Szczecin is the third Polish facility of this kind facing an uncertain future. Both the Gdańsk and Gdynia port silos are awaiting results of tenders.
The situation is especially serious given the fact that silos all over Poland are overflowing with grain, and there is a need for more rather than less port facilities that could take both Polish and also Ukrainian transit grain earmarked for export. Reduction in capacity could lead to further protests by farmers against grain imports.
