Food trade balance shows surplus of 1834.7 MD at end of June 2024 (ONAGRI) [Upd 1]

Tunis: The food trade balance recorded a surplus of 1834.7 MD at the end of June 2024, compared to a deficit of 536.6 MD during the same period in 2023, or a coverage rate of 154,5% in June 2024, compared to 86.7% last year, according to data from ONAGRI published on Wednesday. In terms of value, food exports went up by 49.1% while imports decreased by 16.4%. The surplus recorded is due not only to the increase in export of olive oil (+87.8%), fishing products (+14.8%) and dates ( +22.3%) but also to the decline in imports of sugar (-54.7%), grains (-22%) and vegetable oils (-2.7%). Export prices picked up 67.9% for olive oil, 23.2% for citrus fruits, 14.5% for fishing products, 4.3% for dates and 0.2% for tomatoes compared to the same period of the previous year. Import prices of grains fell by 14% for durum wheat, 20.9% for soft wheat, 29% for barley and 25.1% for corn. The same goes for the price of vegetable oils (-20.2%) and milk and derivatives (-8.0%) compared to an increase of 26.5% for sugar. Tun isia's overall trade balance deficit at the end of June 2024 fell by 7.7%, standing at -8,016.6 MD at the end of June 2024. Total imports increased slightly by 0.04%, to 39,970.4 MD at the end of June 2024. The two groups of energy products and raw materials and semi-finished products together represented 53.2% of the countr's total imports . Food imports represented 8.4% of total imports. Total exports increased by 2.2% to 31,953.8 MD. Food exports represented 16.3% of total exports. The surplus in the food trade balance helped to reduce the deficit in the overall trade balance compared to the same period last year. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse