USSEC met with potential customers in Romania in an effort to capitalize the growth potential of the Southeast European poultry and livestock industries.  USSEC Animal Utilization Consultant – Romania Iani Chihaia and USSEC consultant Gunnar Lynum visited with key feed mill companies in mid-December.
Through a series of field visits and meetings with key feed mills, they educated decision makers, nutritionists, and purchasing managers on the favorable characteristics of U.S. soy.  Besides promoting the quality of U.S. soybeans, Mr. Lynum explained the advantages of direct shipping from U.S. farmers to Romanian soy extrusion plants.

“Understanding U.S. soybean quality is essential for Romanian feed millers and this will generate a new market in Romania.  Domestic soybeans are small in size, lower in protein and contain three percent foreign matter.  At harvest time, Romanian farmers will sell at best offered price, as they do not have any on-farm storage.  In our meetings with major users, we showed samples from three different U.S. states with analysis and estimated cost of #1 soybeans.  Our discussion was based on shipping soybeans direct from the farm as harvested,” said Mr. Lynum.
He added, “Meeting with prospective customers was very useful in understanding the local market.  As inventories are depleted of lower priced soybeans in April - June, several prospective customers indicated they would be very interested in purchasing direct as extruded soybeans are preferred over imported meal and oil.”

“Containerized soybeans shipped directly from U.S. farms are the solution that fits better to the current Romanian feed industry, which is still fragmented.  Romania needs to import half of the soybeans required to operate 25 extrusion plants, which should crush over 60,000 metric tons a year,” said Ioan Antoci, the general manager of Suinprod Roman, the first Romanian company setting up a soy extrusion plant and currently the largest extrusion facility in the country.
He continued, “We appreciate the USSEC consultants’ visit, which was very useful in learning about U.S. soy and the latest developments of the soy market. We are looking forward to a window of opportunity to import U.S. soybeans and improve animal performances.”