Semolina crisis brewing on Algerian market

In the aftermath of the sugar and cooking oil crisis which was at the origin of street riots last January, another crisis now linked to wheat – based semolina widely consumed by Algerian households is the order of the day.

• The semolina price was set by the government at 3.600 dinars per quintal for ordinary semolina and 4000 dinars quintal for premium semolina.
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• Despite the ceiling price set by the government, the semolina price has abruptly increased reaching 4300 dinars per quintal on the market for murky reasons.
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• In a reaction, the General Union of Traders and Artisans (UGCAA) said that the retail traders had nothing to do with this sudden price hike and laid the blame on the producers and distributors of this strategic product.
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• It indicated that this price surge concerned solely semolina with the price of flour remaining unchanged.
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• In this connection, the trade Minister Mustapha Benbada told Echorouk that the increase in the semolina price was ,in fact, due to the imposition of a tax on wheat import. He asserted that such a tax was meant to spur national cereals production.
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