December 3 2003, 13:08

Moldova exported over 43,000 t of sunoil in 10 months

Over the first ten months of 2003 Moldova exported 43,700 tonnes of sunflower oil for the total worth of $22.34 million, Basa-Press agency has informed.

The volume of sales increased 2.6 times from the same period last year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, the oil has been exported at the average price of $511 per tonne.

Also, in January-October 2003 the country exported 37,000 tonnes of sunflower seeds, which is 51 percent more than in the same months last year. The seeds were sold at the average price of $220 per tonne. The total worth of the sales constituted $8.14 million.

The country has collected this year a record crop of sunflower seeds compared with the previous years - 444,000 tonnes.

In Moldova there is just one industrial producer of vegetable oil - the Society "Floarea-Soarelui" from the town of Balti, which sells over 80 percent of its products for export. Its main sales markets are such countries as Romania, Russia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Belarus and others.