|
Italian Grain Imports Rise 11% on Soft-Wheat, Barley Purchases, Group Says
16.08.2010 13:39 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Italy’s grain imports rose 11 percent in the first five months of the year on increased purchases of soft wheat and barley, the national cereal-industry association said.
Inbound grain shipments climbed to 4.82 million metric tons from 4.33 million tons a year earlier, the Rome-based Associazione Nazionale Cerealisti, known as Anacer, said in an e-mailed statement today.
Italy is the largest European Union importer of grain from outside the 27-nation bloc, in part because of demand for durum wheat to make pasta. The country accounts for more than 80 percent of EU durum imports.
National imports of soft wheat, used for bread and cookies, jumped 21 percent to 1.91 million tons. Shipments of durum advanced 1.4 percent to 780,362 tons and barley imports rose 57 percent to 339,461 tons.
Italy’s imports of corn declined 4.5 percent to 937,335 tons, Anacer said.
Italian cereal-industry exports, which include rice and processed products such as animal feed and pasta, climbed 5.7 percent to 1.58 million tons, the figures showed.
Five-month grain imports were worth 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), while exports amounted to 1.04 billion euros. Italy’s cereal industry had a trade surplus of 38.3 million euros, down from 79.3 million euros a year earlier, Anacer said.
Also available:
|
| |
|
|