US winter wheat harvest
 
WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. – Romania’s production of wheat, corn and barley in 2017 is expected to increase 10% due to favorable weather, government subsidies, fertilizer management and disease prevention.

This follows good yields in 2016, which means there is additional pressure on the nation’s transportation network and storage capacity, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

Wheat production is estimated at 9.1 million tonnes for 2017-18, about 5% higher than last year and 16% higher than initial estimates. Exports are forecast to surpass record levels set in 2016-17 by 4.6% to 7.1 million tonnes.

Exports for 2016-17 reached 6.8 million tonnes, an increase of 43% from the previous year.

“E.U. member states purchased about 15% of Romania’s wheat shipments, while most exports were shipped outside the E.U., mainly to Egypt (almost 17%), Vietnam, Morocco, Jordan, and Libya,” the FAS said.

corn
 
Corn production is estimated at 11.9 million tonnes for 2017-18, with significant yield improvement over last year. Improved inputs, including high-quality seeds, irrigation and modern agricultural equipment, helped increase yields, the FAS said. Exports were up 13% in the first 10 months of 2016-17.

Larger stocks are putting pressure on storage and transportation infrastructure, the FAS said. Bottlenecks on road, rail and waterways persists, threatening Romania’s agricultural competitiveness.

“Agricultural barge traffic on Danube River to the Port of Constanta has increased, but overland truck transportation remains the primary means of delivering most commodities to port,” the FAS said. “The Port of Constanta is the primary port of embarkation and has flourished in recent years.”