Syria to import 1.5 mln tonnes wheat — minister

Syria is planning to import around 1.5 million tonnes of mostly Russian wheat this year, as local wheat procurement is expected at around half a million tonnes, the country’s internal trade minister said.

Imports will mostly be Russian but Syria is also looking to buy Romanian and Bulgarian wheat, Abdullah al-Gharbi told Reuters.

“We are still in the beginning of the season of local purchasing, around 20 days or so have passed from the start of it, but we see our local purchases at between 500,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes this year,” Gharbi said. Gharbi also said the country had strategic wheat reserves of more than eight months.

“This is an achievement, look at neighbouring Egypt for example, they only have three months and Algeria have four,” he said.

Syria, which was once self-sufficient in wheat under a state-promoted policy, has had drastically lower production since the start of its multi-sided conflict.

It used to produce 4 million tonnes of wheat in a good year and was able to export 1.5 million tonnes. The decline in output has put Bashar al-Assad’s government under increasing pressure to import the grain. Reuters reported last week that Crimea has stepped up grain exports to Syria over the past year in an arrangement that gives the Black Sea peninsula an outlet for its surplus crops and ensures Assad has a reliable source of wheat. (RTRS)