Romania may prioritize maize and sunflower deliveries to local market

Romania's minister of agriculture Petre Daea has implied that the country could deliver much less maize and sunflower this season as it will prioritize supplying the local market after the drought has affected crops, Bloomberg said quoting the Romanian official, Bursa.ro reported.

Romania will export only what remains after securing the domestic market, said Daea, who declined to give details of potential measures the government could take.

"The situation this year is very complicated. We intervened as much as we could to increase the level of irrigation, but in many areas, it was not possible, so a large part of the crop is affected," said the minister of agriculture.

Romania delivered 4.3 mln tonnes of maize, being by far the largest exporter of maize in the EU, as well as the second largest exporter of sunflower seeds. Romania is also a large supplier of wheat and barley.

At the beginning of the year, maize production was estimated at about 14 mln tonnes, but in the meantime, farmers have reduced their estimates to around 8 mln tonnes.

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