November 18, 2010

Italian grain imports rise 9.2%

Italy's grain imports in the first eight months of the year rose drastically by 9.2% due to demand for soft wheat, the national cereal-industry association said.

Inbound shipments during the first eight months increased to 7.64 million tonnes from 6.99 million tonnes a year earlier, the Rome-based Associazione Nazionale Cerealisti, known as Anacer, said.

Italy is the biggest EU importer of grain from outside the 27-nation bloc, partly due to the country's requirements for durum wheat to make pasta.

Imports of soft wheat, needed to make bread and animal feed, increased by 15% to 3.06 million tonnes.

Grain imports from January to August were valued at EUR1.58 billion (US$2.14 billion) and cereal-industry exports totalled EUR1.66 billion (US$2.25 billion), leading to an industry trade surplus of EUR79.1 million (US$107.5 million) for the period, decreasing from EUR122.3 million (US$166.2 million) a year earlier, Anacer said.