Tunisia: Toward importing 80 thousand tonnes of sugar

Tunisia intends to import about 80 thousand tonnes of sugar, 50 thousand tonnes during the next period, with the purpose of dealing with the shortage of this subsidized basic product, stated the media officer of the Ministry of Commerce and Export Development, Mohamed Ali Ferchichi, during a press briefing held on Wednesday at the headquarters of the National Institute of Consumer Affairs (Inc).

During this conference devoted to the issue of basic food supply, the manager added that 30 thousand tonnes of sugar will be imported from September 12, adding that the Tunisian trade office will import supplementary quantities in the coming months.

He said that the warehouses of the trade office (a structure which guarantees the monopoly on importing sugar, tea, coffee and rice into Tunisia) currently have 7 thousand of tonnes of sugar.

As for coffee, Ferchichi declared that 2,000 tonnes are currently available at the office, remarking that 5 thousand additional tonnes are being unloaded in Tunisian ports.