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Minister Irimescu: Romania could export over 4.5 million sheep to Arab countries
Romania could export over 4.5 million sheep to Arab countries, with Jordan taking up one million, Minister of Agriculture Achim Irimescu this Thursday told a congress dedicated to the Romanian meat industry organized by the "Meat Magazine."
"I recently visited a hub in Jordan, where millions of sheep will be prepared for export to Arab neighboring countries. It is estimated that they can take up over one million sheep from Romania thanks to the very good quality that is similar to that of homegrown sheep. The conducted analysis reveals Romania can export annually 4.5 million sheep, and if one million animals can be shipped now to Jordan, we still have a broad enough margin to export to Arab countries too," said Irimescu.
The MADR head said that Saudi Arabia's Agriculture minister will come to Romania in mid-May and that they will analyze certain aspects related to sheep exports to Arab countries. Irimescu considers the Romanian sheep breeding sector can contribute more than 500 million euros to agricultural trade.
In his opinion, as an effect of opening sheep exports to Arab countries, the selling price of live sheep could rise; it is currently 7 lei per live kilo in the Sibiu area where sheep breeding is a local tradition, but for the deal to be profitable for Romanian animal growers, the price should be at least 10 lei per live kilogram.
In 2014 Romania was the fifth most important cereal producer and the third most important sheep breeder in the European Union. The EU sheep population counted 84.2 million heads, nearly identical to that of cattle. The UK accounts for over a quarter (27 pct) of the EU sheep population, followed by Spain (18 pct) and Romania (11 pct, 9.5 million sheep).
Romania exported last year over 15 million tons of agricultural products worth 5.73 billion euros, up 4.6 pct in volume and 6 percent higher in terms of value compared with 2014, but after two years of surplus in international trade with agricultural products, it fell back to deficit, as 2015 imports were slightly higher compared to the previous year.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, food imports in 2015 amounted to 8.5 million tons worth 5.82 billion euro, exceeding the previous year's imports of 6 million tons worth 4.89 billion euro.