SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. (Staff) – Civil strife and weather conditions in Algeria mean a lot to prairie durum producers.
And that’s good and bad, Canadian Wheat Board commissioner Ken Beswick told grain growers in southwest Saskatchewan.
The board’s record sales of durum this year were at least partly due to a recent drought in north Africa. The region is not only a major producer of durum, it is also the world’s largest importer.
Durum is made into cous cous, a substance similar to ground rice with a wheat texture. It is a staple food in countries such as Algeria.
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But while a shortage of durum boosted world demand, the worsening civil strife in Algeria is hurting its ability to buy grain and is blocking Canadian ports with durum the Algerians have ordered but haven’t picked up.
“We haven’t moved anywhere near the durum down to the river that we had hoped to move,” said Beswick. “It’s moved the durum program into the summer when we would like to ship other things out of the east coast.”
With Algerian durum orders waiting in port, other grain shipments can’t come through.
Because another north African drought is unlikely and civil strife is continuing, Beswick said the CWB expects the price of durum to fall. As well as falling demand, more acres will probably be seeded this year in both the United States and Canada, boosting world supplies.
“We’re suggesting people be careful in selecting their durum acreage,” he said. “We will have durum left on farms. We will have a durum carryover.”
The Algerian conflict continues. The secular government, police and military have come under armed attack by Islamic militants. Fundamentalist Muslims were outraged when the government refused to step aside after elections gave victory to fundamentalists.
