Abstract
For the economic and business historians, the Russian – Turkish Peace of Adrianople (1829) marks the true beginning of market competition on the Danubian hinterland. During the 19th century and the first half of the next one, the Danubian and the Northern Black Sea areas were the largest markets for grain in Europe. Using the above-mentioned hypothesis, this paper analyses the main aspects related to the rivalry between the Great Powers and the German company in the battle of integration in the international grain deposit-ports. This rivalry contributed to the establishment of the Deutsche Levante Linie navigation house which competed with other foreign companies. In addition to the economic benefits achieved with its shipping activities, the German company had access to detailed information on various aspects of the Romanian ports. At the end of the first part of the 20th century, the Romanian cereals trade that ruled for a century lost its ground with respect to oil trade. The relevant references used in this paper (bibliographies, statistical publications and scripts) are from The National Archives of Romania, Galați Branch, The European Commission of the Danube Fund and the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.