Exports of food products fell 35% due to the decline of olive oil revenues of the olive oil which dropped from rose from 1.7 billion dinars (MTD) in 2016 to only 596 this year MD;
This is also explained by the drop in exported quantities, which amounted to 80 thousand tons at the end of September 2016 against 223,000 tons in 2015.
Taking stock of the first nine months of 2016, Director General of Food Industry, Noureddine Agrebi said exports amounted to 1,965 MTD in 2016 against 3,035 MTD last year.
Among the exported products that posted a decline, there is also seafood (fresh and frozen) which have reached 180 MTD while exports of dates amounted to 348 MTD.
During this period, the coverage ratio of the food balance decreased to 72.9% against 111% for the same period in 2015.
The official told AfricanManager this decline is explained by falling export and import earnings.
According to latest figures, the value of food imports reached 2,723 MTD in the first nine months 2016, down 0.5% compared to the same period in 2015.
This decline is due to lower rate of imports of certain basic foodstuffs, like cereals, which fell from 1,273 MTD in 2015 to 1,225 MTD in 2016. Add to that vegetable oil whose import value reached 250 MTD this year against 276 MTD in 2015, not to mention sugar whose figures were 227 MTD in 2016 against 300 MTD at the end of September 2015. It should be noted that these three products account for 70% of the overall imports.
