The value of exports thus reached EUR500 million in a single month, according to ZF estimates.
The high exports are partly because of the sales strategy of the Romanian farmers, who prefer to sell their grain soon after harvesting.
“I sold because I have no storage space, prices are not good for us, Romanian farmers, but there’s nothing we can do about it. Farmers sell right after harvesting because they have no place to store the harvest and because they have loans to repay,” said Valeriu Calin, manager of Agro Ceres Buzau, a company working 500 hectares of arable land.
About two thirds of the grain exported through the Constanta harbor come from Romania, while the rest comes from other countries by the Danube, such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia.
Grain exports were almost three times higher this July than they were seven years ago, and 25% higher than in the same time last year. Last season’s exports stood at almost 8 million tons, mostly wheat and corn.
Romania’s grain harvest is expected to reach 20.5 million tons in 2014, slightly higher than last season and one of the record highs of the past two decades.
July’s exports of grain and oilseeds account for 20% of the export potential of the entire season.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)