Tranzit Group CEO: A painful period awaits us, we need to get prepared

Both producers and customers need to be prepared for hard times

Agricultural producers and companies in Hungary are in an extremely difficult situation, and the really difficult period is only now coming for farmers. We can already see that the smaller producers and companies will in many cases be forced to close the curtain, and it is certainly not easy for the dominant companies at the national level either. Among other things, the specialist spoke to our newspaper about how to deal with bills that suddenly jumped from HUF 1 billion to HUF 9 billion, as well as what can be done against the serious effects of inflation, war and bird flu.

How did the Russian-Ukrainian war, the coronavirus epidemic and the significant price increases – including raw materials, overheads, wages and fuel – affect the company’s operations?

Inflation is a problem for all manufacturing companies, which causes serious problems for us as well. Prices have almost never risen so fast before, and the biggest problem is caused by the fodder situation, which is only strengthened even more by the war. In addition, there is an extreme drought not seen in 100 years, and not only in summer, but also in winter. Added to this is the scorching heat in the summer months. There will be less yield on each crop field, which will also affect animal husbandry.

However, the energy situation seems unsolvable for the time being. If all this weren’t enough, I think that for the first time in Hungary, there may not be enough grain, less grain than is needed. Corn may not be enough for animals and for feed manufacturers and the food industry. The weakening of the forint and the drought push the prices even higher, so we have reached the point where a ton of wheat is around 150,000 forints. At the beginning of 2021, a kilo of live chicken could be produced for HUF 270, today it is already HUF 470, but prices over HUF 500 are not uncommon either.