Romania is among the top ten markets with the largest milkproduction in the EU, with an annual average of 232 litres percapita, above the volumes of states such as Spain, Italy or GreatBritain, whereas the domestic dairy market does not exceed aquarter of the value registered in the three European countries.How can this be?
Amid the lack of large farms and of livestock raisers'involvement in milk processing, the domestic industry generatesturnover worth around 900m euros annually, three times below thepotential related to the 4.7 billion litres of milk producedannually, of which only 20% reach the processing industry.
Milk production costs in Romania are lower than in Hungary, Polandor Slovakia, according to the data included in a CompetitionCouncil report. On the other hand, Eurostat's latest pricecomparisons in the EU show Romania in 2008 had the most expensivefresh milk in retail.
Domestically, fresh cow milk leaves farms at a price of below 1 RONper litre and reaches store shelves at 3-4 RON per litre. Priceswill go down only with production efficiency boosting through thecreation of several farmer cooperatives that should also getinvolved in milk processing, this is the outcome of theinvestigation on the milk market the Competition Council finalisedin September.
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