“You can expect just anything on the grain market, things can change overnight. Prices are lower than last year, indeed. They are now at about 680 lei/ton (EUR151/ton) for bakery wheat,” says Dan Corbut, manager of Agroind Cauceu in Bihor County (NW Romania), which farms 3,500 hectares of arable land and conducts grain trade, as well.
Wheat contributed EUR1 billion to Romania’s economy last year at an average price of EUR203/ton and the new harvest should contribute EUR30 million less, according to ZF calculations, based on an average price of EUR160/ton.
The decline of the wheat price is like a breath of fresh air for livestock farmers and bakery companies but hardly a good thing for farmers.
On the other hand, the harvest in the EU will be 5% higher than last year, while Russia and Ukraine will flood the Black Sea grain market, leaving little room for Romanian exports.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)