Romanian Corn Crop Has Slow Start

Romania’s corn season got off to a rough start, as cold weather and snow inhibited timely planting. As the snow melted, the soil became waterlogged and muddy, further slowing planting progress. Then, later in spring, hot and dry conditions impeded the young corn crop even more, leaving many farmers concerned. However, sufficient rainfall finally arrived in June, allowing the corn to start to recover from drought stress.

Because of the delayed start to the corn season, analysts now expect Romania’s 2018/19 corn yields to fall 6 percent year-over-year (YOY) to 5.59 tonnes per hectare. Total production is also forecast to drop 10 percent from last year to 10.7 million tonnes. Last year’s corn exports were up 40 percent from 2016/17 to 4.8 million tonnes, partly due to a bumper harvest, but the forecast for 2018/19 now sits at 3.9 million tonnes. Gro Intelligence subscribers get timely global data on corn production and its market implications.