Food exports of Romania reached EUR 360 million in January this year

Romania exported foodstuff of 360.8 million euro in January 2014, on the rise by 44 percent (about 109.3 million euro) compared to the same period of 2013. Corn, wheat and cigarettes ranked first, according to data supplied by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR).

2014-05-06 23:21:12

In January, the value of EU deliveries grew by 45.7 percent compared to 2013, to 229.2 million euro, while those to third countries totaled EUR 131.6 million, recording a plus of 39 percent. According to MADR data, most of incomes obtained from exports in January 2014 were generated by 291,000 tons of corn which brought 86.8 million euro, a plus of 76 percent compared to 2013, or 24.1 percent of the overall value.

Exports of wheat of 294.300 tons brought incomes of 60.6 million euro, on the rise by 152 percent against January 2013, representing 16.8 percent of the total obtained from exports. Foodstuff imports which recorded a drop of 3.3 percent in January 2014 because of the drop of foodstuff demand coming from third countries, totaling 325.3 million euro. EU imports grew by 9.6 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, to 276.9 million euro, while those from third countries dropped by 20.6 percent.

EU was Romanian main farm trade partner. In January 2014 foodstuff deliveries to EU represented 63.5 percent, while purchases from EU member states had a share of 85.1 percent. The excess registered in January 2014 in the foodstuff trade was of 35.5 million euro, compared to a deficit of 84.4 million euro in the same period of 2013.

Romania succeeded in 2013, for the first time in the last 20 years to register an excess of over 300 million euro in the foodstuff trade, compared to a deficit of 800 million euro in 2012. Last year Romania exported foodstuff of over 5.098 billion euro, 1.183 billion euro more than the previous year (plus 30.2 percent) and concluded the year with a plus of 325 million euro to the balance of trade for that segment.

Foodstuff imports exceeded 4.773 billion euro, with a growth of 2.4 percent compared to the value recorded in 2012.