Crop prices are rising due to the heatwave across Europe, which is affecting yields in Southern and South Eastern Europe. Romania is highlighted as an area of concern in the latest MARS Bulletin – the European Commission's (EC) monthly crop monitoring report. The reduction in yield expectations is already having an impact on prices in the US. Grain production in the US is also suffering due to unusually high temperatures, according to news service Bloomberg.

According to the EC crop monitoring service, persistently high temperatures and low rainfall have caused trouble for crops, with Spain, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and non-EU Ukraine named as the worst affected countries.

The prediction for the EU's wheat yield was revised down, due to lower yield expectations for the UK, Romania, Austria and Spain, while the estimate for the EU's maize yield was lowered by 9 percent because of the adverse weather conditions in Romania, Hungary and Italy.

There are concerns about the world food supply, with the US suffering its worst drought since 1956, planting delayed in India due to a late monsoon and Australia's agriculture also facing problems with low rainfall, according to Bloomberg.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com