This increase put Romania on the top position in the European Union beating France and Bulgaria by a narrow margin.
The sunflower seeds should contribute EUR500 million to the country’s economy, even tough prices are already 40% lower because of the high amount of seeds available.
“Sunflower and rapeseed are the most profitable crops, oilseeds have always been like this,” says Arnaud Charmenant, the French manager of the 2,500 hectare Tudor 92 farm in Calarasi, southern Romania, which posted EUR2.9 million revenue last year.
Productivity was very good because of the weather this year, and 2011 was about as good, he added.
The record-high sunflower harvest has a direct impact on the business of the vegetable oil processors, considering raw material accounts for 60% to 70% of the total.
The price of a 1-liter Floriol vegetable oil has risen 7% to 6.7 lei (EUR1.5) in December 2008-September 2013, according to a ZF analysis. Romania had good sunflower harvests in the same time and a highly competitive oil processing market, which kept price hikes in check. A bottle of Coca-Cola, for instance became 36% more expensive given the oligopolistic market. (EUR1=RON4.4567)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)