The food trade balance recorded a surplus of 1.1 million dinars (MD) in February 2023 against a deficit of 137.5 MD, during the same month of the previous year, according to data published from the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI) published Tuesday.
The coverage rate stood at 100.1% in February 2023 against 89.0% in January 2022.
The recorded surplus is essentially the result of the slowdown of the pace of grain imports (-5.1%) and the increase of olive oil exports (+29.6%).
In terms of value, food exports went up 15.9%, while imports increased by 3.0%.
On the export side, the average price of olive oil has recorded an increase of 41.2%, to TND 15.23/kg, posting a clear rise, compared to the previous year. Prices also increased by 38.2% for tomatoes, 8.0% for dates and 6.3% for citrus fruits compared to the same period in 2022.
On the other hand, the price of fishery products fell by 14%.
The price of durum wheat fell by 18.0% compared to February 2022. The prices of other grain products (soft wheat, barley and maize) saw an increase of between 7% and 4%.
On the import side, import prices for grain fell by 18.0% for durum wheat, compared with increases of 7.5% for maize, 7.2% for common wheat and 3.8% for barley. The same applies to the price of sugar (+22.7%) and milk and derivatives (+17.6%).
