• The figures show that from the beginning of 2023, Romania exported 2,2 times less wheat, but brought in 13,9 times more from outside the EU than in the same period last year.
Thus, it turns out that the war in Ukraine seriously affected Romania's trade balance with agri-food products. Very large quantities of wheat end up being imported, while exports are on a downward trend.
Latest data of European Commission which take into account the transfers of goods from customs from January 2 to February 5, 2023, show that Romania bought over 77.900 tons of wheat from outside the EU, 13,9 times more than in the same period last year.
Effects at the profile market level
In the Chamber of Deputies, during a meeting of the Commission for Agriculture, Viorel Marin, president of the National Association of Milling and Bakery Industries in Romania (ANAMOB), explains the effects of this situation on the local market:
"Local agricultural producers are in a delicate situation not only because of grain inputs from Ukraine, but also because of exports which have decreased greatly due to the extremely low threshold that Russia has placed on grain delivered via the Black Sea. Russia has won almost all of the Black Sea wheat auctions over the past six months. Thus, the local production has remained with the producer and it is very serious if the stock will be affected in connection with the new harvest which is announced to be a good one."
The difficult situation is also created due to the massive imports of flour from Ukraine. The figures show that in the first 32 weeks of this commercial year, Romania imported a total of over 25.600 tons of wheat flour, which, according to ANAMOB data, represents two months of domestic consumption. In contrast, exports totaled only about 3.100 tons.
Present at this meeting, Aurel Popescu, the president BREAKING, draws attention: "There are about 4.500 bread producers in Romania, of which, let's say, 500 buy Ukrainian flour that comes at a low price, but has many defects in quality, after their wheat has been in silos for at least a year. These quantities of flour influence the market. If the bread producers stop buying flour, the mills stop buying wheat and the farmers sit with the wheat in the silo."
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
Read on White Art and: Ukrainian grain exports put pressure on the profile markets
