Romania’s wheat and corn exports up 18 pct in 2012 despite drought

Romanian traders and farmers exported close to 4.6 million tons of wheat and corn in 2012, up 18 percent y-o-y despite the fact that last year’s drought has reduced cereal output by as much as half for some crops, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development cited by Agerpres.

On the other hand, the drought has also led to higher global prices for cereals as numerous countries were affected. As a result, the value of Romania’s wheat and corn exports amounted to EUR 1.14 billion in 2012, up 28 percent from the EUR 888.47 million reported in 2011. Last year’s wheat and corn exports represented about a third of the total agro-food exports (EUR 3.9 billion).

Last year Romania has also imported some 1.23 million tons of cereals out of which wheat amounted to 0.53 million tons (EUR 118.6 million) and corn to 0.69 million tons (EUR 191.3 million).

In 2012, one of the best farming years over the past decade for Romania due to good weather conditions, the agriculture sector generated an output of approximately EUR 18 billion (up 8.9 percent y-o-y) out of which crop output generated EUR 12.8 billion ( up 12 percent y-o-y).

Come the 2012 drought, crop production dropped by an estimated 20 percent, underlining the sector’s vulnerability to weather conditions and the dire need for more sustainable investments.

In 2013 Romania should have a good, if not great, agricultural year, according to the first official predictions, which is expected to translate into cereal production of between 18 and 19 million tons.