TIRANA, Sept.10- The largest wheat producers in the country have announced that another increase in wheat prices should be expected, given the dynamics of international grain markets. During the last year, grain prices have almost tripled on the international markets, going from $120 to $340 and expectations are that the amount will continue to rise. A few days ago, the Russian Agriculture Minister announced that the Russian administration will impose a considerable tax on grain exports, which will translate into an immediate price increase for importing countries. Russia is the fifth largest grain exporting country and thus influences the world market quite easily. Albania depends heavily on imports to satisfy its wheat demands, hence is under the effect of what world markets dictates. Official statistics reveal that Albania imports between 200-300 tons of grain annually while domestic production, which is around 200 tons, goes entirely for farmers’ personal needs. Actually, the wheat price in the country is $39 per quintal. Experts say that this will also influence other prices of food products such as milk and cheese since farmers use grain as primary food for animals.
Grains imports
The statistics department of the Agriculture Ministry has announced that grain imports during the first half of 2007 were two percent higher than the same period last year, reaching the value of 21.6 million euro. Approximately 177.000 tons of grains were imported during this period, out of which 141.500 were used to produce wheat. Almost 80 percent of wheat imports are received from Russia. Albanian farmers prefer to plant vegetables instead of grains because the profit margin are higher. This year, fields dedicated to growing grain is around 120.000 hectares; a decrease form the 129.000 planted in 2005. This leads to the conclusion that domestic needs will have to rely on imports for 60 percent of the grain needs. After the 1990’s, Albanian farmers, considering the lack of proper facilities to gather and store grains, the low prices and the lack of marketing schemes, decreased the area planted with grains. Experts say that if farmers had better guarantees that their product would be sold, they would increase local production, decreasing reliance on imports. A considerable 90 percent of need could have been met locally by planting 200.000 hectares, which in turn would yield no less than 613.000 tons of grain.
