Algeria's 2004/2005 wheat harvest is not expected to exceed two million tonnes versus almost four million tonnes for the 2003/2004 period due to drought, a senior industry source said on Monday. "The crops harvest won't go over two million tonnes. We are expecting 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes of soft wheat, and 1.1 million to 1.5 million tonnes of durum wheat," the source said.
He expected the barley harvest to be minimal this year, but said those figures were not yet available.
The Agriculture Ministry declined to comment but said last month that it was bracing for a poor season due to a lack of rain. The total cereals harvest for 2003/2004 stood at 4.0 million tonnes versus 4.3 million tonnes in 2002/2003.
Algeria is the world's fifth largest purchaser of wheat after Brazil, the European Union, Egypt and Japan, according to the International Cereals Council.