Romania ranked first the in EU, according to the Eurostat data. Total grain harvest in 2018 stood at more than 31.8 million tons. The 18.9 million tons of corn are worth almost EUR3 billion.
The largest producer by area of farmland allocated to this crop was Agricost, the largest grain and oilseeds farmer in Romania, of Arab-held Al Dahra, according to the Agriculture Ministry data. Agricost farms more than 56,000 hectares of land.
“2018 was a good year and the main factor in the corn production growth was the weather, which was optimal for corn development,” says Mihai Anghel, owner of Cerealcom Dolj, which has grain farming and trading operations.
The other top corn producers in 2018 were Comcereal and Transavia, both Romanian-held. Comcereal Vaslui (CCEV) is one of the main companies of the Racova group.
Transavia was the third leading corn producer last year, whose core business is poultry farming though.
“Last year was very good for corn farming but we only grow corn for our poultry farms. Chicken farming remains our core business,” said Ioan Popa, Transavia owner.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)