The turnover of local companies operating in the agriculture sector will increase by almost half a billion euros in 2019, placing agriculture among the strategic sectors of the Romanian economy, according to the estimates of KeysFin specialists.

However, the results could have been better had the weather been more favorable. If in 2018 agricultural production in Romania reached historical highs, with records for wheat and maize, this year statistics are showing a decrease, not just in the case of domestic agriculture, but also at the European level, due to the extreme climatic conditions.

“Romania occupies a leading position among European countries in agricultural production, and the turnover and profit of local companies represent an equally good barometer for the successes of Romanian agriculture. Even though not all companies in the field use drones and other modern technologies to monitor and protect agricultural crops, investments and programs in this sector, both by authorities and private entities, have targeted useful changes, which have contributed fully to the development of agriculture, so our team of experts foresees an increase of this sector in 2019, by about 5 percent compared to the total turnover of 2018 of companies in the field,” said Roxana Popescu, managing director of KeysFin.

In 2018, the turnover of the local agriculture companies reached RON 43 billion, registering an increase of 14.7 percent compared to the results of 2014.

The largest agriculture company was the Romsilva Forest National Agency, with a turnover of RON 2.3 billion (5.3 percent of the total) in 2018. The ranking continues with Smithfield Romanian (RON 868 million), followed by Promat Comimpex ( RON 715 million), Agro-Chirnogi (RON 698 million) and Transavia (RON 597 million).

The 10 most important players in agriculture had total turnovers amounting to RON 6.8 billion, concentrating 16 percent of the total turnover of this sector in 2018.

New records for Romania

Plant production in Romania has increased by 26 percent over the last five years, reaching EUR 13.9 billion, ranking 6th in the EU in 2018, with almost 6 percent of the total.

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics, despite dangerous hydro-meteorological phenomena, last year Romania ranked first in maize among the member states of the European Union, both in terms of cultivated area and production, with 18.7 million tonnes.

Moreover, Romania reported last year the highest production of sunflower in the EU, of 3 million tonnes, being followed in the ranking by countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary, France and Spain.

Romania also recorded 7.3 percent of total wheat production at EU level, 10.1 million tonnes, thus ranking 4th, after France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

In the case of soybean production, Romania occupies the second position both from the point of view of the cultivated area and that of the production area, accounting for over 16 percent of the total EU.

Half of companies see profit

Despite the challenges related to unpredictable weather conditions or difficult access to finance, of the more than 23,500 companies operating in the agricultural sector, approximately 13,600 (58 percent) made a profit, while 7,200 (30.5 percent) registered losses.

Source: Business Review – November 2019

Limited guests number on 26th November 2019

Romania has become the main cereal exporter among the European Union member states, leading the economic bloc in terms of wheat and maize exports to other countries.

During the first 11 weeks of the current marketing season 2019/2020, Romania has exported 1,72 million tonnes of common wheat, or 33.6 percent of total EU export, followed by France (1,26 million tonnes, 24.6 percent of EU export), according to EU Crops Market Observatory.

Last year, Romania was the third producer of cereals in the EU, after France and Germany, with 31.2 million of tonnes – an all-time high, according to official numbers.

The eastern European country is now the biggest producer of corn and sunflower seeds within the EU, with total output of almost 19 million tonnes of corn and 3.35 million tonnes of sunflower seeds.

Due to larger output, Romania’s export of cereals rose last year by 1 million tonnes up to 12 million tonnes, a record level, and the value of cereal exports was EUR 2.2 billion.

Romania is also the main maize exporter, with 114,737 tonnes delivered since the beginning of this season, or 48.6 percent of total EU export of maize.

The Eastern European country is the second main exporter of barley among the EU member states, with 449,170 tonnes, after France (682,274 tonnes).

Source: Business Review Sept 23rd, 2019

Organic farming is an agricultural method that aims to produce food using natural substances and processes. This means that organic farming tends to have a limited environmental impact as it encourages

• the responsible use of energy and natural resources
• the maintenance of biodiversity
• preservation of regional ecological balances
• enhancement of soil fertility
• maintenance of water quality

We love and respect our land (pământ) in Crucea!

We love organic and biodiversity

Congratulations to all our staff and providers that for the fifth consecutive years received this important certification, which confirms the reliability and consistency of our work!

Bio Suisse, a private-sector organization, is the federation of Swiss organic farmers, with 7’100 members. More than 1000 processing and trade companies have a licence contract with Bio Suisse to use the Bio Bud label.
Thanks to a joint effort by all producers and partners, Bio Suisse helps to bring people, animals and nature again in balance.

Organic products bearing the Bud label are good for nature, animals and people. As proprietor of the Bud brand, Bio Suisse can make such a claim. This also speaks for the consumers’ sense of values. For not only do they expect organic products to meet ecological demands but also to be produced sustainably in the every sense of that term. But what exactly is sustainable production? The production of foodstuffs is sustainable if it meets the needs of the present generation but without spoiling the chances of future generations to fulfill their own needs. Not only ecology plays a role here but also social and economic aspects – and right now, looking towards the future. Bio Suisse takes the concept of sustainability quite seriously. By deciding what they want to buy, consumers should make a contribution towards establishing an economy that will be viable in the future. That is why in accordance with its mission statement, Bio Suisse is developing the Bud label further to include the following sectors:

• biodiversity
• fair trade relations
• climate
• ecological packaging
• market transparency
• supporting direct marketing

The Romanian government plans to cut the value-added tax (VAT) for organic & traditional food products from 9 percent to 5 percent, a measure that coud boost a sector that is still undeveloped in the eastern European country. 

The government estimates that the measure will have an impact on the budget of RON 836 million over the next four years, with VAT revenues falling by RON 106 million this year and by RON 260 million in 2022. “It is proposed to reduce the VAT rate from 9 percent to 5 percent for the delivery of high-quality food products, namely mountainous, organic, traditional products authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The delivery of these foods will be accompanied by a copy of the recognition/certification issued by the competent authority, except for the delivery to the final consumer,” according to the initiators of the bill draft.

According to the current regulations, VAT rate for food products, including those labeled “organic” or “traditional”, is 9 percent.

Associations of organic and traditional food products in Romania have recently announced that they have signed an agreement to reduce the VAT rate to 5 percent.

Source: June 11th, 2019 Business Review

A “Slow Food” chapter of about 20 italian people will be visiting our company next month (June the 2nd).

We are very proud of this achievement as BIO FARM is constantly increasing its image through hard work and passion for nature.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE is not a trend! is a way of living!

May 2019

In 2018, the price of wheat had a spectacular evolution, after climbing strongly during the summer, during the harvest and immediately after, with a price increase of over RON 100 per ton in July. Wheat reached its highest price in recent years this week, as its quotation at the MATIF Paris stock exchange was RON 954 / ton (on 15 January 2019) and the CPT price of Constanta offered by some traders in this week being RON 922 / ton.

According to an analysis conducted by AgroGo to see how this season’s price compares with the previous one, we present the chart below for a comparison of the wheat price over the same period of the year for the last 3 seasons.

There is a positive (positive) difference of over RON 200 / ton over the previous season.

What is to be expected next? The wheat price for the new season, which will be harvested in the summer, is now traded on futures contracts (with future delivery) at a lower value than the current one. Thus the current price for wheat with delivery in September 2019 to MATIF is RON 877 / ton, down by about RON 100 / ton on current price.

The futures curve chart below shows the current price for futures contracts for different delivery periods listed on the MATIF Paris:

These prices change every day, but as a rule, the trend only changes when information with significant changes in production or stocks changes significantly.

For those with current wheat stocks, the question remains, what will happen to the price until the production of the new season? If we were to look at what happened in the past seasons during this period (February and March are visible in the first graph), we see that as a rule the price was quite stable, both on stock exchanges and in the physical market.

But this year is a bit atypical, both because we have a season over the average of the last few years, reached this level through a sudden and unpredictable growth on stock exchanges and because in global information (regarding inventories, production and consumption) we are struck by the lack of the famous USDA reports due to the suspension of the US government and, implicitly, of the subordinate institutions.

In this context, the stock market is quite numb (especially the American one). It remains to be seen what will happen next as we approach the maturity of contracts with the following delivery dates, when traders will be forced to make trading decisions.

SOURCE: BUSINESS REVIEW January 2019

Romanian farmers can access EUR 445.8 million in the first quarter of this year through the National Rural Development Program 2014-2020, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR). MADR, through the Managing Authority of the National Rural Development Program, will open new project reception sessions in the first quarter of 2019.

In the first quarter of this year, funds will be available for Sub-measures (sM): 4.1a – Investments in fruit holdings (EUR 51.013 million), 4.3 – Investments for development, modernization or adaptation of agricultural and forestry infrastructure – irrigation (EUR 200 million), 5.1 – Support for investment in preventive measures to reduce the effects of natural disasters, adverse climatic events and likely catastrophic events (EUR 14.77 million) and 5.2 – Support for investment in agricultural land reclamation and production potential affected by natural disasters, adverse environmental conditions and catastrophic events (EUR 13.68 million).The local infrastructure will also benefit from financing through new sessions for: sM 7.2 – Investments in the creation and upgrading of the small scale basic infrastructure – ITI Danube Delta (EUR 16.78 million), MC 7.4 – Support for investments in the creation or development of rural utilities (EUR 13.76 million) or sM 7.6 – Investments related to the protection of cultural heritage – ITI Danube Delta (EUR 4.99 million).

Local Action Groups will have a new funding opportunity through CM 19.3 – Preparation and implementation of Local Area Action Co-operation (GAL) activities – Component B Implementation of cooperative activities of selected GALs (EUR 9.27 million).

During the same period, sessions for Forestry, Climate and Forest Conservation Services (sM 15.1) and Prime for crop and animal breeding (sS 17.1) will be launched, the total amount of funds available for these sub-measures being EUR 110.15 million.

In 2017, Romania’s agricultural output had the third largest growth in the European Union, of over 13 percent, according to data provided by Eurostat. Continue Reading…