Bulgaria’s sunflower, maize harvests fall, wheat exports up

Bulgaria has harvested lower quantities of sunflower seed and maize until early October compared to the same period last year, with a lag of 24.1% and 27.4% respectively, the agriculture ministry said citing provisional data.

Grain harvesting is progressing more slowly compared to 2022, which, combined with the lower-than-average yields, has resulted in a significant annual production shortfall for both crops up until October 5, the ministry said in a data release earlier last week.

Average sunflower yield was about 16% lower than a year ago with 93% of the total area under sunflower harvested. At the same time, average maize yield declined 12.7% on the year with 65% harvested out of the total area put to the plant.

Export data for the period from the start of the 2023-24 market year until October 8 reveal some striking trends, with wheat exports having tripled year-on-year, underscoring a significant increase in demand and trade, the ministry noted. Meanwhile, barley exports have surged by over twenty times, reflecting an upswing in international trade for this grain.

Bulgaria exported close to 765,000 tonnes of wheat through the Black Sea port of Varna between July 1 and October 8, or 225% more than a year earlier, the data showed. In the week to October 11 alone, 23,300 tonnes were exported through the port. Exports of barley amounted to 141,528 t in the same period, up from 6,706 t a year ago. The port of Varna in recent years has accounted for some 30% of the country’s total wheat and maize exports, according to the ministry’s statement.

Maize exports through the port of Varna since the beginning of market year 2023-24 until October 8 amounted to 13,960 t compared to no exports registered during the same period of last year.

Since the beginning of July until the end of the reporting period, no imports of grain or oilseed crops were recorded through the ports in Varna and Burgas, the ministry said.

Details of the 2023 harvest and yield for sunflower seed and maize as at October 5 follow:

Tags: maize, Bulgaria, sunflower seed, harvest, export, grain, Oilseed, Production, yields, imports