Bread Prices In Romania To Hike Again By Easter

"Bread prices will increase very soon. Already, wheat prices rose RON0.1 in the past week, and producers will each calculate their own prices considering what they pay for flour and other related costs," Popescu said in a seminar on financing for rural areas.

He added the price of wheat in the past week reached RON1.05 per kilogram and could go up to RON1.1 by the time of the new harvest.

He added depositaries have taken wheat out of the state reserve starting March.

"The state reserve has taken out wheat, which we buy. Wheat was taken out from storage in March, in April and the process will continue in the second quarter of the year,” Popescu said.

Producers on the Romanian market started raising bread prices in July-August 2007, citing higher wheat prices in Romania and Europe following drought-damaged crops. Price hikes varied from one producer to the next and ranged between 5-6% and 20-30%.

Romania’s 2007 cereal crop nearly halved on the year, to some 3 million tons, due to scorching temperatures that affected the country.