August 29, 2003
Bulgarian Govt Withdraws Wheat Reserve, Bans Exports
On 28th August, Bulgaria's government withdrew its wheat reserves and banned exports in a bid to offset shortages and contain rising prices in the wake of a poor harvest.
Agriculture Minister Mehmed Dikme said the Cabinet would sell 100,000 metric tons of wheat from its contingency reserves on the local market. He said exports would be banned for the period of the sale.
Wheat prices at the Sofia Commodity Exchange have soared to 240 leva ($1=BGL1.7866) per metric ton from about BGL175 per metric ton in late June. One metric ton of wheat sold for up to BGL280 in northwestern Bulgaria, the official BTA news agency said.
Bread prices have risen slightly since June.
Bulgaria harvested 2.2 million metric tons this year, down from four million metric tons a year ago.
Cold and dry weather killed about a half of the crops in the country's main wheat growing regions last winter.
Dikme said the government was ready to unblock more wheat and import about 100,000 metric tons if needed.
