Customs Service of Armenia: Wheat import in Armenia falls 5.53% for 1st half of 2016 amid 55.1% decline of flour imports

ArmInfo. In the first half of  2016, import of wheat in Armenia decreased by 5.53% year over year  (y-o-y) to 2.1 thousand tons versus 41% y-o-y growth in the 1st half  of 2015, according to the Customs Service of Armenia. In monetary  value, the supplies decreased from to $1.5 million year over year or  12.5%. In this light, import of wheat flour fell 55.1% y-o-y to 65.1  tons with a total cost of $14.5 thousand. 

Flour producers in Armenia are Alex-Grig and Manana Grain. These  companies are the wheat importers too. Armenia imports wheat mainly  from Russia (84% of total with an 8.8% y-o-y growth). Import of wheat  flour from Russia has almost halved y-o-y totaling 3.1 tons. Import  of wheat flour from Belarus accounted for 94% of total for the first  half of 2016. 

Armenia increased export of wheat by 85.3% to 32.8 tons for $21.3  thousand. Export to Russia accounted for 73% of total and remaining  was exported to U.S. 

Import of grain (separate category in the report of the Customs  Service- editor's note) in Armenia decreased 58% y-o-y  (vs almost  2-fold growth a year ago) to 5.8 thousand tons, as import of grain  from Russia has nearly halved.The Customs cost fell by 65% to $11.8  million. 

For comparison, in 2015, import of wheat (both quality and quantity)  fell by 20% to 3.7 thousand tons for $2.9 million.  Export of wheat  fell 56.9% to 91.5 tons amid 57.3% decline of the customs cost to  $70.4 million. Import of wheat flour in Armenia fell 30.9% to 271.5  tons.  The cost of the imported wheat flour fell 52.3% to $84.7  million. Import of grain fell 2.5% to 321,000 tons, amid 23.8%  decline of the customs cost to $76.1 million.  

Alex-Grig (owned by Armenian oligarch, parliamentarian Samvel  Alexanyan) has a dominating position in the market of wheat and  flour.  Its share in the market exceeds 42%. Manana Grain is another  big actor in the market  - over 36%. The two companies supply nearly  80% of the local market. Manana Grain LLC is also one of the biggest  grain importers (over 34% of the market).