Hedging for business: how to protect your company from currency and price risk

In developed markets, hedging is not an exception reserved for large corporations. It is routine. A 2025 MillTech survey of mid-sized and large firms with a treasury department shows that about 81% of firms in Europe, North America and the UK were actively hedging their currency exposure, and in Europe the share climbed to 86%, from 67% in 2023. A later survey, from February 2026, pushes the figure toward 90% for mid-sized firms in Europe and North America.

Keep two things in mind. First, the figures come from surveys of large and mid-sized firms with dedicated finance people — not of all firms. Second, hedging is not only defence: a study of over 6.000 firms in 47 countries linked it to more stable flows and a higher market value (U.S. Bank synthesis).

Where Moldova stands

Measured figures exist only for developed markets. In Romania, hedging through banks is a common route for large firms. In Moldova there is no public adoption figure — we cannot say how many firms hedge, because nobody measures it. What we do know: the basic instruments (forward, swap) exist on the local market at the interbank level, but their use by companies is, most likely, rare. That is the gap: large exposure, still little hedging.

Currency risk

An importer signs a contract in euros and pays in 60 or 90 days. If the leu weakens in the meantime, the same invoice costs more lei — the margin thins without the company having done anything wrong. An exporter has the reverse problem: it collects euros and converts them into lei; if the leu strengthens, it receives fewer lei than it counted on in its offer.

Commodity price risk

Here the mechanism is just as simple, only the variable is a commodity's price. Two examples from Moldova:

A company selling fuel. It buys diesel or petrol at today's wholesale price, tied to the international quote, but sells it days or weeks later. If the quote falls in the meantime, it sells cheaper than it paid at procurement, and the margin it counted on melts away. If it rises, it earns extra — but precisely that uncertainty is the risk.

A farmer exporting sunflower. At sowing he knows his production cost — say the equivalent of 400 € per tonne. If at harvest the market price drops to 380 € per tonne, he sells below cost or with a margin far smaller than planned. A contract that locks the selling price in advance shields him from that fall. The figures are illustrative.

Moldova is a small, open economy: foreign trade is large relative to its size, and almost all of it happens in foreign currency. Currency and price risk touches a large number of firms, not a niche.

Who is exposed, by sector

Moldova has tens of thousands of active firms. The most exposed to currency and price risk are concentrated in four sectors (small and medium enterprises, NBS data for 2024):

One sector note: "transport" means transport and logistics companies, not petrol stations. Petrol stations and fuel distributors fall under trade and bear the fuel price risk directly; transport companies bear it indirectly, as a major cost.

Who needs hedging the most

The need grows when a firm has a large exposure relative to its margin, is a price-taker — that is, it cannot influence the price and accepts it as the market sets it —, the price is volatile and time passes between commitment and payment. On that logic, the order for Moldova looks like this:

What Moldova exports and imports

By official commodity groups, Moldova's 2024 exports were led by machinery, electrical appliances and cables (16,0%), vegetables and fruit (12,0%), oilseeds and oleaginous fruit (10,2%), cereals (9,1%), clothing (7,5%) and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (6,8%). In the first part of 2026, oilseeds moved into first place, at around 19,6%. Source: the National Bureau of Statistics. From a hedging perspective we care about the groups tied to currency and to volatile prices — oilseeds, cereals, oils —, which is why the order above may differ from a simple export ranking.

On the import side, where the company pays in foreign currency, energy resources dominate — natural gas and petroleum products, including fuel —, followed by machinery, equipment, vehicles and chemicals.

The terms below look like a wall if you have not worked with an exchange, but each solves a single problem: how to fix today a price or a rate you would otherwise only learn months from now. Start with the first — the rest are variations on the same idea.

The forward contract — the one firms use

A forward contract is an agreement to exchange an amount at a rate (or price) fixed today, for a date in the future. You pay nothing upfront, but it binds you to the transaction at maturity. It is used for currency as well as commodities; for a company with invoices in foreign currency, it is the most common instrument.

The other three, in short

Hedging has a cost, but one that can be estimated in advance. It differs by instrument.

Currency forward

No premium is paid at the start. The cost sits in two places: the forward points (the difference between the forward rate and today's) and the bank's margin. Forward points come from the interest-rate differential between the two currencies — a quantity set by the market, not by the bank. The bank's margin, for the major pairs, is small: at the interbank level a differential of 10–50 pips applies.

Commodity futures

No premium here either. You pay a brokerage commission and lock up a margin deposit — money set aside as collateral, not spent. The contracts are standardised; here are the real sizes for the commodities that matter in Moldova:

Option

Here a premium is paid at the start — the price of the right to lock in a safety price. Beware of a frequent confusion: for Euronext wheat options, the premium is quoted in steps of €0,1/t (the minimum price step, i.e. €5 per contract, because one contract is 50 tonnes). The step is not the premium. The premium itself — what you actually pay — is much larger, on the order of a few euros per tonne, depending on volatility and maturity.

The currency operations of a resident firm fall under Law no. 62/2008 on currency regulation. The law says what can be done freely and what requires authorisation from the National Bank of Moldova, with thresholds and exceptions. The banks through which these operations run are licensed and supervised by the NBM.

Exchange-traded instruments belong to another regulator, the CNPF. The distinction is useful: a currency forward with a bank sits inside the NBM's perimeter, while access to international instruments goes through intermediaries regulated in their own jurisdiction.

The answer depends on which risk you are hedging. There are two routes, for two types of exposure.

Leu risk (EUR/MDL) — through a local bank

The leu is not traded on international markets, so an EUR/MDL forward is not available at foreign brokers. Such a contract can only be made through a bank in Moldova, under NBM supervision — and only if the bank offers it for your amount and maturity. Not all banks advertise this service; for now the local offer is limited. Ask your bank.

Commodity and major-currency risk — through regulated partners

For futures on cereals, oilseeds or fuel, for options and for the major pairs (euro–dollar), access goes to international markets, through regulated intermediaries. This is where we come in: we open your access to these instruments through our partner banks and brokers, regulated, and help you understand what you are choosing.

Most problems appear when hedging quietly turns into speculation. Three rules keep it in its role:

Hedge the real exposure

The hedged volume is tied to a specific invoice, contract or harvest — not to an amount chosen because it sounds good. If the position exceeds the exposure, the firm is no longer hedging, it is speculating. Exactly what we do not want.

Do not always hedge everything

Depending on how much risk you can carry, you may hedge only part of the exposure — a proportion decided from the start, not changed emotionally along the way. The rest stays exposed, but knowingly.

Hedging has a cost

The option has a premium; the forward has a spread or a commission. The cost is the price of certainty. A firm that refuses any hedging cost is, in fact, choosing to carry all the risk alone.

We are not a provider of hedging instruments and we do not intermediate the local market. We do two things. We explain the instruments and the hedging strategy in your team's language, without jargon. And we open your access to the international instruments — commodities and major currencies — through our partner banks and brokers, regulated.

A consultation starts from your company's numbers — what you collect, what you pay, in which currency, on which maturities — and ends with a map of the options and a hedging plan you can apply. Where needed, we go further with a training programme for your team.