“We see a rebound in soy production. This is a logical effect of the EU’s depending on imports of soy,” said Florin Constantin, regional head of French seed producer Euralis.
Local farmers’ interest in soy has risen gradually in recent years, so that farmers this autumn harvested 221,000 tons, the highest of the past nine years.
Soybean is a EUR40 million business a year on average for Romanian farmers, but the production is at less than 10% of its potential at the moment. Soy crops cover only 86,000 hectares in Romania.
Euralis operates in Romania on the market of corn, sunflower and soy and competes for a market of around EUR200 million annually with other multinationals such as Pioneer Hi Bred (US), Monsanto (US) and other French groups such as Caussade Semences or Limagrain.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)