Bulgaria’s 2012 reduced sunflower crop could hit exports
Bulgaria’s sunflower crop in 2012 is about 30 to 40 per cent lower than last year which could mean limits on exports, Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Tsvetan Dimitrov was quoted as saying on September 24 2012.
Bulgaria is a relatively small player in the world sunflower seed and oil market, rating below the top 10. With some variations in placing in recent years, the result of drought conditions in some parts of Central and Eastern Europe, world sunflower seed and oil production is dominated by Russia, Ukraine and Argentina. Within the European Union, Hungary and the Netherlands are generally the largest players in the sunflower market.
Dimitrov, quoted by local news agency Focus, said that there would be no problem with supplies from the Bulgarian sunflower crop for domestic consumption.
Like other crops inBulgaria, sunflowers have been affected by temperature extremes this year.
Separate reports said that sunflower prices in the US were up because of reduced harvests in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, the result of unfavourable weather conditions.
Dimitrov, asked about overall prices of food products in Bulgaria, said that prices depended on the market situation, the agricultural and climate conditions, and many other factors.
“Certain prices increased as a result of the fact that this year was not very good in terms of agriculture but this does not mean that the prices will remain on the same level next year. If you look at the figures of the past years, you will see that the prices were highest in 2007, and then in 2008 and 2009, which were good years, the situation was normalised,” Dimitrov said.
(Photo: Kata Szikora/sxc.hu)
