Italian cereal imports increased by 8.7% in the first half of 2010

According to the Italian Grain Industry Association (Anacer), during the period from January to June this year, Italy’s total grain imports increased by 8.7% over the same period of last year, mainly soft wheat, durum wheat and barley.

Italy is the EU's largest importer of cereals, partly due to the strong demand for Durum. Italy accounts for more than 80% of the total EU durum imports. Durum is mainly used to produce pizza.

Anacer said that in the first half of 2010, Italy’s total cereal imports were 5.88 million tons, compared to 5.41 million tons in the same period of last year.

The export of Italian cereal products increased by 7.5% to 1.93 million tons.

In the first half of this year, Italy’s cereal import value was 1.22 billion euros, or approximately 1.56 billion U.S. dollars, while exports were 1.25 billion euros. During the same period, the Italian grain trade surplus was 36.2 million euros, which was lower than the 56.8 million euros in the same period of last year.