The latter field is struggling in Romania because of the poor infrastructure to the plants that are the end beneficiaries, but also on the dwindling heavy industry activities.
Plans to expand in the field of grain trade come as Romania has in recent years become a major wheat, corn and sunflower seed exporter, and Constanta harbor is a critical Black Sea tie and a major gateway to countries in the region.
Agricultural raw materials last year came to account for one third of the whole commodity volumes that transited Constanta harbor, according to Eurostat, from just 11% in 2008.
In this context, harbor operator Comvex, with revenue of RON173 million (EUIR39 million) last year, asked shareholders’ approval to build a grain terminal with a 200,000-ton capacity in the coming period. The investment would allow the company to also unload the ships of major grain traders and thus tackle several markets.
Because of it high capacity specialized on a single product category, the company is highly dependent on Central European plants. Comvex had to revised its profit target for 2014 after a large part of its business was seized by a harbor of Croatia, which has recently joined the EU and which has a better geographical position to Central Europe consumers. The plus weighs heavily in traders’ decision to operate in one harbor or another, despite terminal investments, says Viorel Panait, Comvex general manager.
“Our problem is mainly related to the Danube navigation and to the railway,” underscores Panait.
Gabriel Daraban, commercial manager of Oil Terminal, a Romanian state-run company that owns an import-export and warehousing terminal for crude oil and oil products, also speaks about problems related to navigation on the Danube.
Total commodities volumes that transited Constanta harbor fell by 22% in 2008-2013, from 45.7 million tons in 2008 to 35.6 million tons last year, with the volumes now following an upward trend, according to Eurostat data.
As the market they are battling on is narrowing down, harbor operators are shifting to the segment boasting the best potential, that of agricultural raw materials.
Grain came to account for one quarter of total volumes handled through the terminal of Socep company, from around 12% in previous years, while industrial materials traffic dropped. Socep also announced its shareholders it planned to start investing in a grain silo in around two years.
Other terminal operators initially specialized in iron ore or chemical products have increased their focus on grain, the more so as major traders entered their shareholding structure.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)