February 2, 2007

EU may become corn exporter

An entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union might turn the 27-nation bloc into an exporter of corn and sunflower seeds from an importer, according to Rabobank Group, the world's biggest agricultural lender.

The two new entrants to the EU have the potential to produce considerable export surpluses in the near future, thus fulfilling the demand for import, pointed out analysts at the Utrecht, Netherlands-based bank.

A potentially large and growing exportable surplus of grains from the new EU-countries would be able to enter the bloc without being subject to import duty, Rabobank said.

Romania and Bulgaria account for 42 percent of the total EU land allotted for producing sunflower seeds and 45 percent to corn. They together produced 11.8 million tonnes of corn last year, almost a quarter of the EU's total output.

The EU imported 3.3 million tonnes of corn and 0.4 million tonnes of sunflower seeds last year, according to the USDA estimates.