Romania this year might export 1.2 million tonnes of wheat of the total 7.8 million tonnes, after the lowest wheat crop over the past years (4.2 million tonnes) was registered last year, Agriculture Ministry officials told Ziarul Financiar.
Romania needs only 3.5 – 4 million tonnes of wheat for the bakery industry, of which 2.5 million are needed to supply the population from the urban areas. The rest of the harvest could go to the state reserves, it will supply next year’s production with seeds and can be used for fodder, representatives of the Agriculture Ministry said.
“Wheat harvesting is over and the total crop amounts to 7.8 million tonnes, of which one or no more than two tonnes might be exported,” Petre Marin, head of the Statistics Bureau, specified. The total harvest was initially estimated at 7 million tonnes. Last year’s crop was affected by the drought, the most severe in the past 50 years.
The drought and the weather forecasts from the beginning of this year made a lot of farmers give up cultivating wheat, choosing fodder cultures instead, such as barley, oat and two-row barley, which are “drought-resistant.”
Romanian farmers may export their wheat crops through the large companies dealing in export. Moreover, the companies producing fertilisers and pesticides that were bartered agricultural products may export wheat, Viorel Marin, the chairman of the Milling and Bakery Patronage, specified.
“Both traditional exporters, more than 30-40 large international companies, and newcomers on the market are assailing the producers. The export price and rules will be negotiated between the seller and the buyer,” Viorel Marin said.
Wheat is currently priced at 100 dollars per tonne at the Chicago Commodities Exchange. Under such circumstances, Romania’s total wheat output is worth more than 500 million dollars.
The Government decided that the reference price for wheat on the domestic market stands at 3,200 lei/kilo.