ALGIERS- Algeria’s import bill of cereals (wheat, maize and barley) dropped by nearly 20% during the first nine months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, despite a slight increase in the imported quantity, said the Algerian Customs’ National Centre of Data Processing and Statistics (CNIS).
Cereal import bill declined to US$2.05 billion for 10.01 million tonnes between January to late September 2016, against US$2.56 billion for 9.93 million tonnes during the same period a year earlier, down by 19.9% in terms of value and up by 0.84% in terms of volume, said the source.
The import bill of soft and hard wheat dropped to US$1.31 billion (5.99 million tonnes), against US$1.79 billion (6.17 million tonnes) during the same period of reference, down by 26.5% in terms of value and down by 3% in terms of volume.
Soft wheat import bill declined to US$878.82 million against US$1.22 billion, down by 28.13%, while in terms of quantity, Algeria imported 4.57 million tonnes against 4.95 million tonnes between January and late September, down by 7.7%, said the CNIS.
The import bill of hard wheat also decreased to US$437.75 million (1.42 million tonnes), against US$567.71 million (1.22 million tonnes), down by 23% in terms of value and up by 16.3% in terms of volume.
Maize import bill totalled US$602.71 million (3.25 million tonnes) against US$635.58 million (3.14 million tonnes) during the same period of reference, down by 5.2% in terms of value and up by 3.52% in terms of volume, according to the figures provided by CNIS.
Barley import bill dropped to US$135.54 million (767,734 tonnes) against US$139.08 million (611,922 tonnes), down by 2.55% in terms of value and up by +25% in terms of volume.
Source: Nearly 20% drop in cereal import bill in first nine months
