One billion dollar-wheat production this year

Wheat production will reach 7 million tonnes this year, with the per hectare average standing at 3,824 kg. This compares to the production of just 2 million tonnes of wheat in 2003, when droughts hampered production.

Wheat imports last year exceeded 1 million tonnes, significantly feeding the trade deficit linked to food products, which touched the one billion-euro threshold.

Despite this year’s very good production, the old war of statements between producers and processors regarding the price of wheat has been rekindled. Players in the milling and bakery industry are responding in a particularly restrained manner to the positive influence of this year’s production on bread and flour prices, invoking the high price of Romanian wheat.

“I am not very upbeat (about the reduction in wheat prices). Though this has been a good year, the price of Romanian wheat continues to stay at a quite high level as compared to international quotations – even against Ukraine and Moldova. Positive influences that this production might have over the following months are dependent on many factors,” says Dan Trifu, deputy chairman of the Strategy-Finances Department within Vel Pitar, one of the largest players in the milling and bakery industry.

The price of wheat in countries neighbouring Romania stands at around 120-135 dollars/tonne, close to prices levied on the Romanian market.

“The price of wheat this December will very much depend on the way small producers will benefit from state assistance as regards warehouses,” Trifu states.

Adrian Porumboiu, chairman of an agricultural holding that this year cultivated a large area of wheat (23,000 hectares with production of more than 90,000 tonnes) and of one of the largest bread producers in Moldavia Racova Com Agro Pan Vaslui, says cereal producers have always had losses in relation to processors.

“Last year, cereal producers had massive losses, and many processors had to inclusively process fodder wheat, to which they added ameliorators. These make bread more puffy, but they produce cancer, this being the reason why they have been banned not only in European countries, but even in Bulgaria,” Porumboiu states.

Ion Popa, chairman and majority shareholder of Pangram Resita, one of the top players on the pasta market, says this year’s harvest was preceded by price decreases in the milling and bakery industry, a trend that will not continue indefinitely.

“This year’s consistent harvest has already yielded its first effects through a drop in the price of bread in certain areas of our country. On the other hand, it is very important that the acquisition price of wheat per kg has halved this year as compared to the previous year, when it reached 8,000 ROL. At the same time, the price of flour has shrunk over the last several months by about 25%, while the price of pasta has gone down by 10%,” Popa states.
stelian.negrea@zf.ro