Bulgaria’s wheat area surpasses 2016, corn exports hit 290,000 mt

Wheat has been planted on 1.1 million hectares of Bulgarian farmland, while corn exports have topped 291,964 since September, government data published late Wednesday shows.

In both cases, the figures are higher than at the same stage of 2016, according to the data.

As of December 14, wheat has been planted on 1.1 million ha, versus 1.08 million ha at the same stage of 2016 and marginally surpassing the final acreage of 1.09 million ha, according to the data, while rapeseed plantings – the next largest crop in the autumn planting – lags 7% behind acreage planted last year, at 172,000 ha.

Barley is also lagging 16% behind previous years plantings at 109,000 ha.

Meanwhile the country’s exports have also surged, with 291,964 mt of corn now exported between September 4 and December 17, a rise of 92.4% on the previous year.

Wheat exports also continue to outpace last years, reaching 1.38 million mt from the port of Varna, versus 1.21 million mt.

“It’s the same area of last year, so there’s no difference,” one market source said, with last year’s area seeing Bulgaria produce a crop of just under 6 million mt.