“The 20 percent rise comes from a superior valuation of the 2007 production and the normal production obtained in 2008, following a good agricultural year,” Anghel told Business Standard, adding that prices of agricultural products have dropped.
Cerealcom Dolj’s owner said that 2009 will be a very difficult year, due to the global financial crisis. “Investments will plunge once access to financing becomes more difficult and expensive,” said Anghel.
The company administers 25,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Dolj and Olt counties, and also owns a silo network. Mihai Anghel is one of Romania’s largest growers, after Culita Tarata, who administers 58,000 hectares of farm land, Ioan Niculae, owner of InterAgro, with some 50,000 hectares, and Adrian Porumboiu, with some 40,000 hectares.
Romania has an agricultural surface of 14.7 million hectares, of which only 10 mln hectares of arable lands. The five-largest local producers cultivate over 213,000 hectares of agricultural land.
