The Evolution of World Grain Trade

Abstract

Abstract Over the course of history, world grain trade has developed from the stage where grain was only shipped as incidental cargo to its status today, an industry in which thousands of tons of grain move daily. As a share of total consumption, traded grain has risen from less than 0.03% in the eighteenth century to more than 10% today. This explosion in trade volume has relied on communication and measurement technology, which has made information about grain available to buyers and sellers. As we enter the twenty‐first century, the information component of demand for grain will continue to expand, thereby threatening to overwhelm the current infrastructure.