“The crops aren’t better than expected anywhere in the country. There are areas in the south with 0% production. 2020 can’t compare to other years. The price of sunflower in Romania rose from 1,450 lei/ton to RON1,900/ton in two weeks and the sunflower oil is already more expensive because Romania is the largest producer in the EU and expectations are the amount will be lower due to the drought. The estimate is for a 30% decline in production in the entire country,” says Sergiu Gorban, owner of grain trader Transylvania Invest.
The Arad-based company traded 200,000 tons of grain last year an ended 2019 with RON174 million (EUR36.8 million) revenue, an increase of 7% on 2018, and RON1.2 million profit, according to publicly available data.
The drought hit the wheat and rapeseed crops the worst, especially in SE Romania, where production stood at merely 10% of the estimate.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)