Lithuania's 2023 grain harvest drops 4% to 7 mln tonnes - Association

VILNIUS. Oct 4 (Interfax) - The grain harvest in Lithuania this year totaled nearly 7 million tonnes, which is 4.1% less than last year's 7.3 million tonnes, the Lithuanian Association of Grain Processors and Traders reported.

Wheat accounted for about 4.5 million tonnes, rapeseed 850,000 tonnes, barley 650,000 tonnes, and oats, peas and beans reached almost 200,000 tonnes each. Rye came in at 75,000 tonnes.

The harvest was "saved" by winter crops, Association President Karolis Simas said.

"The size of the harvest was maintained by the winter crops. The harvest of spring crops has been very poor for several years in a row due to droughts in April and June," Simas said in the association's press release.

As of the last days of September, more than 70% of this year's grain harvest had already been sold; about 5 million tonnes are planned for export.

Lithuania's main competitor is Russia, which sells grain at a lower price, Simas said. "Our biggest competitor this year is Russia, which, taking into account last year's harvest, has an export potential of more than 45 million tonnes of grain and sells it from 10-30 euros per tonne cheaper than we do. It is difficult to find or maintain markets where we could compete with Russia," he stated.

Nigeria traditionally remains the main importer of Lithuanian grain; the second largest market, Spain, has to compete with Romanian and Bulgarian sellers.

Lithuania lost the markets of Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey 2-4 years ago, and now Russia dominates there, the Association said. On the other hand, this year due to drought there is a poor harvest in Australia, so there is demand for Lithuanian grain in Asia: ships with wheat have already left for Indonesia, and a ship with peas will soon leave for Bangladesh.

Last year, about 7.3 million tonnes of grain, legumes and rapeseed were grown in Lithuania, which is 7% more than in 2021 (6.8 million tonnes), the Association said.