Vienna, 11.07.2022 - With the vision of the ÖBB Rail Cargo Group (RCG) to be the sustainable logistics backbone of the European economy, comes a great responsibility – the responsibility to keep the industry’s engine running with efficient logistics solutions, even and especially in crisis situations (like the current stagnation of grain exports from Ukraine due to the naval blockade). The RCG has strengthened its agricultural transport since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. In addition to this rail transport, which already incorporated a total volume of just over 330,000 tonnes by the end of June, RCG is counting on digital solutions to boost the agricultural trade by land.
“GrainLane” - the marketplace for agricultural products
Headed by the RCG, together with the Open Innovation Team of ÖBB Holding and the external Company-Building partner V_labs, the online marketplace “GrainLane” – an open and transparent tool for the agricultural trade – has been developed. GrainLane connects Ukrainian farmers with retailers, consumers and logistics providers. In just a few clicks, detailed grain offers (incl. details of protein contents, conventional cultivation or organic etc.) and requests can be created. After a successful match, contact information can be exchanged and finally transport requests can be made. GrainLane thus forms the basis for a thriving market between Ukrainian producers and European and African buyers and retailers, who often have had no business relationship before the war.
Currently over 61,000 tonnes of agricultural products being offered
GrainLane is free of charge for all parties and can be used at any time at www.grain-lane.com and already lists over 600 users. 61,000 tonnes of agricultural products are currently offered on GrainLane at attractive prices: from wheat (from 200 EUR per tonne) to soy (from 580 EUR per tonne) to dry corn (from 169 EUR per tonne). Interested parties can agree the details individually with sellers and you can choose for GrainLane to provide support with transport services thanks to its partner network. This way Ukrainian producers can easily and securely reach international buyers like mills, retailers, exporters and many others.
Background
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the global economy and especially the agricultural trade has faced unprecedented challenges. More than 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine. Until now, the stocks were exported by sea, which is now blockaded. This has devastating consequences for the security of the whole supply: globally 50 percent of sunflower oil, 15 percent of corn and 12 percent of wheat still has its origin in Ukraine. Above all else, Africa is heavily dependent on these exports.
V_labs – the leading Austrian Company Builder
V_labs helps customers to implement digital innovations outside of the box as independent start-ups. In doing so, V_labs takes on the conception, prototyping, design, IT development and even online marketing, among other things. V_labs is represented by around 30 people in the Vienna, Budapest and Dornbirn locations.
Open Innovation Team
The Open Innovation Team of ÖBB supports the validation and further development of innovative ideas in the ÖBB group at an early stage and with a customer focus. This extends from internal product and service innovations to the development of entirely new business models.
Rail Cargo Group: ÖBB freight transport
As the leading rail logistics specialist in Europe, we shape the industry. 365 days a year – 24 hours a day. From Europe all the way to Asia. We connect people, businesses and markets – every mile of the way. We are present in 18 countries and have our own employees in 15 of these. Our 5,755 logistics professionals of 34 different nationalities enable us to get 463,000 trains safely to their destination every year – that's around 1,270 trains per day. We transport 94 million net tonnes every year with our efficient end-to-end logistics solutions. Our rail share of 28% (preliminary figure) of the total goods traffic in Austria makes us the front-runner in Europe. The operating holding company of the Rail Cargo Group is Rail Cargo Austria AG.
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