Coffee, tea and spice imports down by nearly 9 pct in Q1

The value of coffee, tea (including mate) and spice imports has dropped by nearly 9 pct in the first three months of 2021, compared to the similar period of 2020, down to 57.36 million euro, according to the commercial balance with food products, consulted by AGERPRES. Last year, in the first quarter, the value of imports of such products exceeded 62.8 million euro. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), income from coffee, tea (including mate) and spice imports totalled, in the analyzed period, 9.63 million euro, over the 6.56 million euro in the similar period of 2020. In these conditions, the deficit noted in the trade of these products was of 47.7 million euro in the first quarter. Coffee, tea (including mate) and spice exports were made to countries in the European Union and those outside the community. According to the MADR data, Romania's deficit in the trade with agri-food products increased by nearly 66 pct in the first quarter of this year, compared to the similar period of 2020, down to 755.34 million euro. In the first three months of 2020, the deficit in this sector was of 455.5 million euro. Romania exported, in the January - March 2021 period, agrifood products worth 1.74 billion euro and spent for imports of such products more than 2.49 billion euro. AGERPRES (RO - author: Mariana Nica, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Simona Iacob)