Radu Timis, the owner of Cris-Tim, one of the largest cold cuts producers in Romania, believes the exit of the UK from the EU will have a beneficial effect on the exports of his business, as controls will tighten and help rid the market of the unofficial meat exports.
Cris-Tim’s owner believes customs duties will drive prices up 5%, but it will be the distributor handling logistics that will swallow this particular cost.
Cris-Tim group posted EUR124 million revenue in 2016, so exports account for EUR12.4 million, according to ZF’s calculations.
“I don’t think the Brexit will affect exports to the UK. Even if there is a customs duty, it won’t be that high, no more than 5%. The UK market is an expensive market, which means products are more expensive, two or three times more than in Romania, so we don’t see it as having an impact on our sales, on the contrary the market will be cleaner (…)”
The United Kingdom is the main destination for Romanian meat exports, according to National Statistics Institute data. Romania exported EUR43.7 million worth of meat to the UK last year, or 18% of its meat and other edible parts exports in 2016.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)