Algeria imports almost $1 billion of wheat

Algeria imported near one billion dollars worth of wheat in the first ten months of 2004, according to local Algerian press sources quoting an official Algerian customs report.

This amounts to almost four million tons of wheat. Principal sources are France – 1.34 million tons and the USA, 354.385 tons. Other suppliers include Argentina with 331.000 tons and Brazil with 283.763 ton.

Algeria has been unable to develop a major wheat production industry because of climate conditions and as a result local production covers barely a third of consumption, according to local Algerian press reports. Wheat products are the basic staple of the Algerian diet.