Miller Magazine Issue: 155 November 2022

MILLER / NOVEMBER 2022 99 domestic production has improved over the years, it remains weather-driven, and does not meet domestic demand. There- fore, Algeria continues to import wheat. In its latest report released on 30th September, the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) post in Algiers forecasts the 2022/23 season wheat harvested area at just over 2 million hectares (ha). “Despite, the government making pledges to expand cereal production, Post believes that due to the adverse effects of the pandemic, farmers likely did not expand their operations in a meaningful way,” USDA reports. Post forecasts 2022/23 wheat production at 3.3 million metric tons (MMT), and barley at 1.2 MMT. Over the last several years, the government of Algeria has repeatedly proclaimed the increase in agricultural production, specifically highlighting wheat, as a national priority. In 2021, the Minister of Agriculture (MoA) Abdelhamid Hemdani announced plans to expand Algeria’s wheat-planted area to 3.5 million ha. The government had previously indicated that it had surveyed the identified favorable agricultural land to cultivate durum wheat nationwide, particularly in regions with high rainfall. In Algeria, grain harvest season begins at the end of April through early May in the southern Saharan regions, while in the Northern areas, the harvest starts later in May and gathers steam through July and August. Harvests in these areas start- ed with favorable forecasts for cereals, including durum wheat, bread wheat, barley, and corn. Starting last year, the Ministry of Agriculture initiated preparations for the planting campaign in July, instead of September as used in previous years. Plantings were brought forward from October to September. This deci- sion was undertaken in anticipation of benefiting from possible early rains. As usual, the MoA made available treated seeds and fertilizers particularly, bread wheat and durum wheat, bar- ley, and certain legumes seeds such as lentils and chickpeas. Furthermore, the ministry pursues the program to strengthen surface irrigation to develop cereals in the south and supple- mental irrigation in the north to counter the lack of rainfall and improve cereals production. Algeria is among the largest consumers of wheat in the world. Wheat is the major staple food and represents 60 percent of the food ration in Algeria. However, the government is encour- aging consumers to decrease their consumption of bread to avoid waste and decrease the demand for bread (common) wheat thus reducing imports. Wheat consumption will remain relatively stable in the near future. USDA’s post forecasts wheat consumption at 11.15 MMT for 2022/23 season. Barley is consumed mainly as a grain in animal feed by sheep, cattle, and camels, with small amounts consumed as green fodder, and minor amounts used for traditional foods. Barley consumption is a function of weather-related pasture conditions—in general, bad pasture conditions result in in- creased demand for barley. Post forecasts barley consumption at 1.950 MMT for the 2022/23 season. ALGIER DIVERSIFIES WHEAT SUPPLIERS Algeria is one of the world’s largest importers of wheat. In 2021, cereals represented about a quarter of Algeria’s total food import bill of $9 billion, along with being the top food import. Algeria does not release the results of its ten- ders and reports are based on trade estimates. Traders’ reports indicate that the Algerian office of Cereals (OAIC) has been purchasing bread wheat on the international mar- ket throughout 2022. Traders’ reports indicated that OAIC booked up to 720,000 MT of bread wheat in the August tender and purchased wheat from different sellers for ship- ments through September-October. According to these re- ports, most of these amounts are expected to be sourced from France. Reuters and other news reports indicated that Algeria said to buy Russian wheat. The articles reported that OAIC bought an unknown volume of milling wheat in an international tender at the end of August cheaper than EU wheat to be shipped to two ports in Algeria. Trade re- ports indicate that the shipments would be most likely to be sourced from Russia for delivery during the second half of September and October. Given the ongoing purchases, USDA’s Post estimates wheat imports at 8.3 MMT. Algeria’s imports from Ukraine and Russia represent only 4% and the war has not had an impact on Algeria’s imports. Algeria has always relied primarily on imported wheat from France, Germany, Spain, Canada, the United States, Argenti- na, Uruguay, and Mexico. However, the import figures show an increase in imports from Ukraine in 2022. OAIC is adopting a policy of diversification for its commercial partners. The new specifications open the door of competition to several foreign suppliers. Russia resumed wheat exports to Algeria in June 2021 after a five-year break after the North African country raised the threshold for corn bug damage in wheat imports it allows to 0.5% from 0.1%. Barley Production, Consumption and Imports in Algeria (1000 Tons) 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023 Production 1213 950 1200 Consumption 2350 1950 1950 Import 836 772 770 Source: USDA Wheat Production, Consumption and Imports in Algeria (1000 Tons) 2020/2021 2021/2022 2022/2023 Production 3107 2500 3300 Consumption 11050 11100 11150 Import 7600 8100 8300 Source: USDA COUNTRY PROFILE