June 29 (SeeNews) - The combined revenue of the companies operating in the grain industry in Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and Serbia grew by 36% to 7.55 billion euro ($8.26 billion) in 2021, a report by Sofia-based business intelligence provider SeeNext published on Thursday showed.
Romania ranked first among the countries in terms of turnover, generating some 3.29 billion euro, up 43% on the year, according to the report titled Agriculture Industry in Southeast Europe. The report analysed the performance of 2,369 companies engaged in crop cultivation across the four countries between 2019 and 2021.
You can download the 2023 Agriculture industry in Southeast Europe report here
Bulgarian companies generated 2.17 billion euro in revenue, marking a 37% increase. Serbian companies reported 1.52 billion euro in revenue, or 17.4% more than in 2020. Moldova, which has the smallest market size, registered the highest growth rate, at 52%.
The grain industry in the four countries generated a total net profit of 1.2 billion euro in 2021, nearly five times higher than the previous year. Romania posted an eightfold increase in net profit, whereas Moldova turned a positive net financial result.
The industry's net profit margin went up to 15.3% from 4.3% in 2020, with the highest margin - 23.2%- recorded in Bulgaria, followed by Moldova with 17.6%. The sector's total return on land across the four markets grew to 48% in 2022 from 10% a year earlier, led by Bulgaria and Romania.
Bulgaria also came first in terms of wheat and maize yield per hectare, while Serbia lead when it came to sunflower and rapeseed, according to data from the countries' statistical offices. Serbia and Bulgaria's average yields of sunflower seeds in 2022 were 20.5% and 7% higher than the European averages, respectively.
Total labour, material and amortisation expenses in the grain industry amounted to 2.8 billion euro in 2021, a 16% rise compared to the previous year. Moldova and Serbia posted the highest expense increases, of 28% and 21%, respectively. Romania had the largest market size in terms of operating expenses, at 1.2 billion euro, followed by Bulgaria with 868 million euro.
The industry's workforce declined by 1.5% year-on-year to 48,000 employees in 2021. Romania and Bulgaria had the highest concentration of employees, with the West and North-West regions of Romania and the Southwest and Southern Central regions of Bulgaria posting a rise in employment within the sector. In Serbia, grain production was mainly concentrated in the Vojvodina region, employing 6,500 out of the total 6,900 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees in the country, while in Moldova, the workforce was more evenly distributed across the three regions.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative and solidarity lanes led to substantial increases in the inflow of Ukrainian-grown cereals in Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova, whereas Serbia’s imports from Ukraine were insignificant over the review period.
($ = 0.9142 euro)