Tunisia’s food trade balance showed a surplus of 26.6 million dinars (MD) in January 2020, against a deficit of 142.9 MD during the same period in 2019, according to statistics published by the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI) on Thursday.
The surplus is the result of the decrease in the value of imports, especially those of grain, following the fall in their prices and the increase in the rate of olive oil exports.
The coverage rate stood at about 106.3% in January 2020, against 74.1% in 2019. Indeed, the value of food exports went up 10% increase, while imports fell by 23.3%.
Decrease in export prices for olive oil (-35.9%) and citrus fruits (-13%)
Export prices went down 35.9% for olive oil and 13% for citrus fruits compared to the same period of the previous year. On the other hand, those of fishery products increased by 32.6% and tomatoes went up by 18.6%.
Grain import prices down, except for durum wheat
Grain import prices fell, with the exception of durum wheat, which rose by 4.9%.
This fall in grain import prices affected common wheat (-13.7%) and barley (-25.3%) but also milk and milk products (-9.8%), sugar (-8.8%) and potatoes (-11.9%).
Import prices of meat fell by 5.6% and those of vegetable oils also decreased by 7.7%.
This decrease is mainly due to the re-appreciation of the dinar by more than 10% against the euro and the dollar.
