First-half data on foreign trade show the increase in exports is now being driven by four big companies - Petrom, Rompetrol, Dacia Renault and Sidex, who together account for 15% of the sales of commodities abroad.
The four big companies exported 1.6bn euros in the first six months of 2005, each witnessing 30-70% growth.
Exports rose 16% in the first half of the year to 10.5bn euros. The top performers in this regard were mineral products, which include petroleum products, with a 60% increase; vehicles and transportation materials, including cars, 44%; and metallurgical products, also 44%.
Exports of clothing and footwear halted their growth, while exports of machinery and devises progressed by less than 10%.
Exports of mineral products (petroleum, petroleum products, ores, coal) amounted to 1.04bn euros in the first six months, an increase of nearly 60% from the same time in 2004. The drive behind growth in this case came from Petrom and Petromidia, which together had exported more than 700 million euros six months into the year.
According to estimates by officials at Petrom, a company now held by OMV, exports now account for around 40% of overall turnover, which represents 800 million euros of sales on foreign markets. Petrom''s half-year exports stand at 400 million euros.
Petromidia''s exports for the first six months of the year amounted to 400 million dollars (312 million euros), 40% more than in the corresponding period of 2004. "Exports should exceed one billion dollars (800 million euros) by the end of 2005," predicted Dinu Patriciu, the Rompetrol Group chairman.
The bulk of exports, approximately three quarters of the total, went to the region comprising Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Albania and Bulgaria, while 25% went to the euro zone.
The automotive market enjoyed its largest half-year export volumes since 1990, according to the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers of Romania (APIA).
Exports of vehicles and transport materials, which comprise vehicles and vehicle components, reached 777 million euros in the first six months, 44% more than in the six months ending June 30 2004.
As with mineral products, this category has a star performer: Automobile Dacia. The Pitesti-based company began to sell the Logan model on a range of markets, including EU countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Czech Republic. The carmaker in Pitesti had sold 16,305 units by the end of June, the same as the demand for the whole of 2004.
At an average price of 7,000 euros per car, this should bring the export value to 114 million euros. The carmaker''s target for this year is 60,000 vehicles, which includes all Dacia models, adding another 4.2bn euros to Romania''s exports.
Daewoo Automobile Romania, which makes cars for the domestic market, also exports a significant amount of automotive components to plants in South Korea, Poland, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Egypt.
Next on the list of "export stars" are metallurgical products. Receipts from the sales of such products amounted to 1.7bn euros in the first half of 2005, 29% more than for the same period last year.
The main growth drive in this sector was the Sidex Galati steel plant, now held by the world''s leading steel manufacturer, Mittal Steel. miruna.lebedencu@zf.ro
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