By Luiza Ilie
BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romania, one of the European Union’s biggest grain producers, is expecting a record high wheat harvest this year, as ample spring rain should help it rebound from last year’s drought-stricken output, analysts and the agriculture ministry said.
Drought and heatwaves last summer hurt crops in Romania and other parts of Europe, with maize and sunflower seeds suffering double-digit losses. But regular rain this season, including in April and May, has helped ease dryness.
Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu said earlier this week he expected the wheat harvest to reach 14-15 million metric tons.
Cezar Gheorghe of Romanian grain market consultancy AGRIColumn told Reuters on Friday he expected output of 13-13.3 million tons, which would still make it the country’s all-time high, beating 2021’s bumper harvest.
“The extra surplus of Romanian wheat will partially compensate the wheat shortage … which could put downward pressure on prices,” Gheorghe said
The European Union state reaped 9.29 million metric tons in 2024, down 3.5% from the previous year, data from the national statistics office showed. Its maize harvest in 2024 stood at 5.99 million tons, down 31.45% from a year ago, while sunseed production was 1.49 million tons, down 26.04%.
Gheorghe said his maize forecast for this year stood at 10.2 million tons and sunflower seed at 2.5-2.6 million tons, despite farmers shying away from the two crops after years of drought.
Romania exports through its flagship Black Sea port of Constanta, which has also become Ukraine’s main alternative route since Russia’s invasion.
Although Ukrainian grain exports have fallen as Kyiv increasingly relied on its own ports, Romania has facilitated the shipment of roughly 30 million tons since February 2022.
Constanta port authority told Reuters Ukraine shipped 292,233 metric tons in the first four months of 2025.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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