The five multinationals posted 71.1 million lei (EUR15.2 million) net profit, according to their Finance Ministry filings, compared with almost RON19 million loss in 2016.
“Trading is not exact science. One must accept there are years when one does not make any profit. The margins are down, and one has to fight for each amount collected,” said trader Sergiu Gorban, owner of Transylvania Invest in Arad.
“Last years’ results of the companies show how well they adjusted to the new commercial conditions in Romania.”
ADM and Cargill have posted losses in six of the past ten years, while the other top players have been in the red every now and then, according to publicly available data.
“I guess they must have dropped the tax optimization now that they’re posting profit, they’re no longer taking the profit to those countries where they have the biggest tax incentives,” an agribusiness expert said.
With almost RON3 billion revenue in 2017, Ameropa Grains became the leader of the grain trading business, beating ADM Romania Trading.
“We bought and sold 3.1 million tons of grain and oilseeds and 310,000 tons of fertilizer last year,” Ameropa officials said, providing an answer to ZF’s questions for the first time.
Grain trade stood at RON24.5 billion in 2016. (EUR1=RON4.6656)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)