March 11, 2004

Algeria 2003 Grain Imports Falls 20%
 
Algeria's 2003 cereal imports declined to 6.788 million metric tons last year compared to 8.502 million tons in 2002, customs import data showed Wednesday.
 
Traders said the decrease was due to a combination of a bumper grain output last year and price increases in international grain markets.
 
Algeria last year produced 4.2 million tons, up from 1.5 million tons in 2002 following good weather conditions.
 
Durum and hard wheat imports fell to 2.918 million tons in 2003 from 3.561 tons in 2002, while soft wheat transactions declined to 2.224 million tons from 2.438 million tons, the data said.
 
Corn purchases decreased by 350,481 tons to 1.551 million tons in the same period and barley imports fell to 90,302 tons in 2003 versus 593,569 tons.
 
Algeria imports an average six million tons per year which makes it a major world player in the grain market.