How much does Serbia earn annually from the sale of corn?

Corn in this economic year reaches two records in terms of price, which this week on the Product Exchange in Novi Sad is 0.2 euros per kilogram, excluding VAT, and good exports because we are from the beginning of the economic year in October 2019 to the end In 2020, they sold, according to the Customs Administration, 1,330,237 tons.
In January, they say in the Association “Zita Srbije”, they expect that between 300,000 and 350,000 tons of corn will be sold on the foreign market. The association states that if the trade in corn on foreign markets continues at this pace or the demand is even higher, we should not worry. We will have corn for domestic needs and for export for sure until May. We need about 4.4 million tons of corn for domestic consumption, and in April last year we sowed it on close to a million hectares and got an average of 8.1 tons per hectare.
– We can be satisfied with the export of corn because we sell it faster than in previous years – Vukosav Sakovic from the Association “Zita Srbije” says for “Dnevnik”, and states that he believes that the Ministry of Agriculture will not change the decision announced a few days ago not to introduce the measure bans on corn exports or additional export taxes if the demand for domestic corn continues to go at this pace or the volume of trade is even higher. – The essence is that the market is free and that in that respect trade is not limited in any direction.
However, there is a suspicion among agricultural analysts that this will not be the case and that the state will react if exports are higher and start endangering domestic needs because they believe that they will not allow us to import corn.
Agrarian analyst from Novi Sad, Zarko Galetin, says that domestic exports have just begun in this economic year and that we should not be afraid of foreign trade until the volume of trade reaches three million to three and a half million tons.
– Only when it approaches that volume, the state will react by restricting exports in order to protect local needs because it was the same in previous years – says Galetin, and adds that it will be a difficult measure because domestic traders should be stopped, since the price of corn is now the best since 2013, and a ton is worth about 200 euros, although the amount of corn in the world is at an all-time high and is over 1.140 billion tons.
If exports really reached 3.8 million tons, that would mean that, with an average price of about 200 euros per ton, about 760 million euros could be earned on the world market.
Although there are doubts among analysts that we will be able to export 3.8 million tons of corn, as much as they expect in the Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural analyst Branislav Gulan says that we will succeed without problems because we do not have a large livestock or significant needs for animal feed. In the last economic year, we exported 3.05 million tons of corn, which is considered the best export result since 2014.
– Our country has long been among the top ten world exporters of corn – reminds Gulan. – There is no fear that, if the foreign market demands it, we will not approach the export of four million tons, but we should be concerned that, although we have corn in abundance, we do not have a developed processing industry, and corn goes into as many as 1,300 products. Instead of the story about the large export of that grain, we should think about what can be made from corn, because there is a much higher profit in processing than we have now, so we should direct our energy in that direction.
More will be sown
Due to the good price, it is predicted that in the spring sowing, the area under corn will exceed one million hectares. Compared to the expected production last year, corn was 9.6 percent more, and compared to the ten-year average (2010-2019) 29.4 percent.
The Ministry of Agriculture announced that it will continue investing, primarily in irrigation systems, and thus try to maintain the growth trend of production. The realization of 49 projects of irrigation systems throughout Serbia is in progress, Kamatica reports.