unisia has put in a purchase order for 47 thousand tons of sugar to cover its internal needs until the beginning of October, as announced by the chairman/CEO of the Office of Commerce of Tunisia, Elyes Ben Ameur. The first trucks carrying 20,000 tons of sugar, coming from Algeria, already reached Tunisia on Saturday, as referred to the Tap press agency by Ben Ameur. The Office of Commerce, which holds a monopoly on the import of sugar, has already started the distribution to markets, producers and wholesalers.
A merchant ship with 27,300 tons of sugar should arrive on 16 September at the commercial port of Bizerte. This should cover the consumption needs for 27 days, said the official. Tunisians are great consumers of sugar, according to the national statistics institute (INS) they consume 1.000 ton per day and 360,000 tons per year. The lack of sugar, added Ben Ameur, is the result of the increase in global prices caused by the war in Ukraine and of the value of the dollar. The price of sugar used to vary between 360- 400 USD per ton in 2021, against the current price of 700 USD and this has had an impact on provisions, he added.