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

On November 26th 2019 at 10:00 A.M. – Bio Farm Crucea, Agricola Grains (Italy) and BIOS Romania and other partners will organize the first edition of an intent annual meeting on “Culturile alternative și răspunsurile în piața, pentru o agricultura ecologică care provoaca schimbările climatice” .

If interested, please send your confirmation with exact number of guests to: info@biofarmcrucea.ro

ATTENTION: Limited guests number to 15-20

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

China Central and Eastern Europe Investment Co-operation Fund II completes the acquisition of 15 grain silos and logistics hubs from Brise Group, and aims to create the first open access agriculture infrastructure platform in Romania.

CEE Equity Partners, the Investment Advisor to the China Central and Eastern Europe Investment Co-operation Fund II, announces the acquisition of 15 grain silos and logistics hubs from the Brise Group, from now on held by Bristol Logistics (BL), according to a press release of the Fund.

The assets are strategically located throughout the most productive agricultural areas in the country, and have multimodal connections that allow road, rail and/or water trans-shipment directly within the properties. The assets will be further modernized, and upgraded to further enhance the discharging and loading rates, improve storage and treatment related services as well as traceability.

Brise Group is one of the most important independent grain traders in Romania, and will from now on be a valued grain origination client of Bristol Logistics’ infrastructure platform – the first of its kind in Romania- open to all farmers and traders operating within the catchment areas served by BL’s growing network.

BT Capital Partners acted as financial advisor to Brise Group. Dentons and Kinstellar acted as legal advisors to the transaction, PWC as tax, financial and market advisors to the Fund and BASE as technical advisors.

The Chinese fund signed the agreement with Brise in April this year, but the transaction was finalized in July. Back in April, the fund said that will be investing close to EUR 60 million in the Romanian company.

Source: Business Review – August 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

On June 19th, 2019 a new harvesting season just began. Thanks to all our staff!

Organic Barley is on its way…finally!

Bio Farm Crucea celebrates its first fifteen years in Romania. A big group of 20 people coming from Fossano (Cuneo), slow food chapter, and many company’s partners and providers have gathered together last monday (June 3rd), in Crucea.

They visited the renovated company’s headquarters, cultivated fields and the local surroundings (Sfanta Cruce and Delta Danube).

A light lunch and local wine tasting was offered to all our guests and friends.

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