1. Prospects at the Agricultural Markets in Bulgaria and the EU Capital Newspaper and ITC Media Expectations about the International Agricultural Market by Sofia Hotel, 10 November 2016
Jens Schaps
Directorate C "Single Market Organisation"
DG Agriculture and Rural Development
European Commission

2. Outline
1. Agriculture is the first economic sector in rural areas – we create jobs, growth and development
2. Globally, the prospects for Agriculture are good – however price and volume volatility remain an issue
3. Demand is growing – consumers want high quality products and world demand is seen to grow steadily
4. The EU and Bulgaria have their place in these developments and we should take our changes! 2

3. Agriculture and food in the EU economy

4. Bulgarian Agriculture
Agriculture holds an important share on total GDP - 5,6%
High number of small scale farms with high UAA –
Apparently income perspectives are comparable good in Agriculture but productivity gains are necessary
Dominant position of arable crops – cereals, oilseeds, protein crops, the livestock sector is comparable small - 27% against 42% for the EU as a whole
Bulgaria has a clear agricultural net export position with a wide range of competitive products: cereals, oilseeds, protein crops, dairy products and not least honey 4

5. Production shares - Bulgaria

6. EU Cereals Production in 2015 at 310 Mio t

7. Yield Evolution for wheat – t/ha

8. Weather Condition 2016 – "Mars"

11. EU Cereals Demand: Food, Feed and Exports

12. World Oilseeds production in Mio t

13. EU Oilseed production, Mio t

14. EU Oilmeals production and Imports – Mio t

15. EU Cereals Supply: Wheat to stay No 1 in EU
Annual changes in area and yields by crops between and 2025 in the EU (%)

16. Source : EUROSTAT, Reg. (EC) No 479/2010 Art. 1(a)1

17. 2016 Milk collection compared to 2015

18. Medium term perspectives

19. EU Pigmeat Prices – class E €/100Kg

21. EU28 agri-food trade,
Source: COMEXT

22. Bulgaria Trade in Agriculture

23. Some points for future consideration
Bulgaria will continue to develop a more competitive sector – farm structure will further adapt and farm size will increase
Advantages in arable crops – home grown cereals and protein crops are the future input for the EU livestock sector
The Bulgarian Livestock sector has much potential and the EU market can take much more products
In certain cases farmers may want to join producer organisations and inter-professional cooperative structures
In line with economic growth the home market will expand and local product always have a preference for consumers 23

24. Thank you for your attention!
Reports and data available at:
Thank you for your attention! 24