August 25, 2011

Bulgaria to export at least two-million-tonne spare wheat

Bulgaria will ship at least two million tonnes of 2011 excess wheat as the harvest goes above last year's output, said Pavel Nikolov, deputy chief of the National Grain and Feed Service.

The Balkan country has already sold some 570,000 tonnes of wheat, mostly to Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and other countries in the EU, Nikolov said. Farmers have reaped 4.26 million tonnes of wheat this year, exceeding last year's crop of four million tonnes.

"The yield is higher this year, and the wheat crop is of much better quality than last year's because of the better weather," Nikolov said. "Wheat shipments are on-going and will reach at least two million tonnes."

Bulgaria has also exported some 260,000 tonnes of barley to the EU, even though the crop of about 685,000 tonnes this year was below last year's 833,000 tonnes, he said.

Bulgaria sold some 1.59 million tonnes of wheat in 2010, according to the service. The country's domestic grain consumption is about two million tonnes, which allows for further exports, Nikolov said.