Algeria expects 4.5 million tonnes of grain harvest

Algeria's grain harvest this season is expected to be in line with last year's crop at about 4.5 million tonnes, an agriculture ministry source told Reuters on Wednesday. But there is unusually high pressure on Algerian wheat stocks because large volumes of grain have been illegally re-exported to neighbouring Tunisia and Libya, whose own imports have been disrupted by political turmoil, the source said.
Algeria is the world's seventh biggest importer of grain, with imports last year of 5.232 million. The level of imports is tied directly to the domestic harvest, which fluctuates according to the amount of rainfall in the growing season. "The harvest should be at 4.5 million tonnes," said the agriculture ministry source, who did not want to be identified. Last year's grain crop was 4.56 million tonnes. The source said heavy rains in the past few weeks had not damaged the crop because there was not sufficient raid to flood wheat fields.
Wheat smuggling to neighbouring countries had increased sharply since a revolution in Tunisia in January and the conflict in Libya which has left that country struggling to import foodstuffs through normal channels, said the source. "(There is) heavy pressure on wheat because smugglers are selling to Tunisia and Libya," said the source. "In several border regions the situation is very serious and we may even face a shortage very soon." Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said on Sunday he had ordered a crackdown on the smugglers and that any shortfall would be made up by increasing wheat imports if necessary. Algeria's government sells wheat to millers at a subsidised rate well below the market price, making it an attractive target for smugglers.