Romania's exports could pass the €100billion mark this year

Romania has all the chances to reach, this year, the mark of 100 billion euro for exports, and most will go to Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, shows an analysis made by a payment processor.According to the statistics data announced by INS, in the first five months of this year, the exports of the Romanian companies were worth 38.5 billion euro, and the perspectives show that, at the end of the first quarter, we could reach 50 billion euro, shows a press release of Moneycorp Romania.Most exports were those of cars and transport equipment (47.1%) and other manufactured products (29.6%).At the same time, almost three quarters (72.7%)of exports went to the countries in the EU, the value of the exchanges intra-27EU goods being 28 billion euro.Romania also exported goods and services worth €10.537 billion to countries outside the European Union, accounting for 72.7% of total exports. "Even if exports have slowed down by 2.9% compared to the first five months of last year, the trend is positive and shows that the economy has adapted to the challenges posed by the new fiscal changes and especially by inflation, the highest in the EU this year. The evolution of Romanian exports will mainly depend on how our main trading partners in Europe, Germany, Italy and France, will overcome the problems caused by inflation, the restructuring of the economy in the context of the effects of the war in Ukraine and the reconfiguration of production and supply chains. The outlook is still uncertain, but given the new economic policy that Brussels wants to put into practice to relaunch the European economy, the outlook is positive,'' said Cosmin Bucur, managing director of Moneycorp Romania, quoted in a press release. The experts mention that the next period will bring a series of opportunities as, from the point of view of price-quality, the Romanian products are in the attractive area, from construction materials to food produce, textiles and cars."Dacia, Romania's main exporter, is coming up with new car models, as is Ford, the software industry continues to show a positive development and chemical exports are on the upswing. The post-pandemic economic restructuring is starting to show its positive effects, with most Romanian manufacturing companies optimising their costs and launching new ranges of products and services adapted to the new economic reality,'' said Cosmin Bucur.   Romania's main export products last year were electrical machinery and devices, means of transport, furniture, construction materials and other products, agri-food products, chemicals and plastics, metallurgical products, textiles, clothing, leather, footwear and mineral products.   In 2023, Romania exported €93 billion (+1.3% compared to the previous year), but the outlook for 2024, boosted by the effects of inflation, points to the €100 billion mark, the release emphasises.   The main destinations for Romanian exports were Germany (21.3%), Italy (10.7%), France (6.8%), Hungary (6.6%), Bulgaria (4.1%), Poland (3.7%), Turkey (3.5%), the Czech Republic (3.3%), the Netherlands (2.9%) and the United Kingdom (2.9%).   ‘After last year the deficit of the commercial balance was improved by 5.1 billion against 2022 (-15.1%) at 28.9 billion euro, we hope the trend will be kept this year as well. After the first five months, we see, unfortunately, a growth of the deficit of the commercial balance (FOB/CIF) at 12,288 billion euro, higher by 1.230 billion euro (+11.1%) against the similar period of 2024. There are chances that, on the basis of significant increase of the exports of agricultural produce and cars, in autumn, the data regarding the deficit to be improved’ says the Moneycorp analysis. According to the specialists, the evolution of Romanian exports will depend, in a significant measure, on the way the authorities will support the relaunch of the economy.The analysis reminds, in the context, that Romania has very high potential as regards the relocation of production activiites, with focus on exports. The efforts of extension of highways and railway network, together with investments in logistics parks, made Romania an interesting destination for investors, mentions the document.The results of the Frames study, quoted in the specialty analysis, shows the fact that Romania has all the chances to become a real regional hub in the logistics domain, trans-border production and services, investments meant for the following years surpassing 10 billion euro.The investment key represents the development of the infrastructure of industrial parks, with integrated offer of warehouses, production spaces, services, transport and connectivity. The most attractive areas from the point of view of investments are Constanta Harbour, Bucuresti/Ilfov and Centre region.In a Europe where all countries will be competing to attract investment, Romania, with its low operating costs compared to other countries in the region, is likely to be an important destination for investors, but it needs to do more to attract foreign capital, analysts say.   The development of programmes to stimulate production, with EU funds or from the state budget, is likely to give a significant boost to the economy, especially in the IT&C sector, in the context of the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, which Romania will also have to join.   Digitalisation, robotisation and new technologies are an area which must become strategic for Romania, an area with excellent export potential.   ‘It is necessary to have sustained effort of the business environment and the state to economic reconstruction on the sustainable and predictable basis which offers an alternative to imports and competitive offer to exports’ mentioned Cosmin Bucur.At the same time, the experts say that, in a volatile foreign exchange environment and the economic pressures generated by the crisis, the business environment must increasingly consider the use of hedging products and strategies (currency hedging).Present since 2016 in Romania, Moneycorp is the biggest payment institution in Europe. In 2022,the company traded at global level over 86 billion euro and made payments to voer 190 countries.In  Romania, Moneycorp works with over 1,000 companies Corportate and SMEs from diverse domains such as IT&C, Insurances, Industrial Equipments, FMGC or Medical.