World Grain - May 2018 - 28
COUNTRY FOCUS Focus on Italy Thriving milling industry is a major producer of durum flour for pasta by Chris Lyddon Italy has a diverse grains sector, with the country's climate and taste for pasta making durum wheat an important crop. It needs to LPSRUWZKHDWWRIXO¿OOWKHQHHGVRILWVPLOOLQJLQGXVWU\,W¶VE\IDU WKH(XURSHDQ8QLRQ¶VELJJHVWSURGXFHURIVR\DVZHOODVLWVELJ JHVWSURGXFHURIULFH3ROLWLFDOO\,WDO\KDVEHHQDVWURQJRSSRQHQW RIJHQHWLFDOO\PRGL¿HGFURSVZKLOHLWLVQRZSXVKLQJWRGHYHORS DGYDQFHGELRIXHOV $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH ,QWHUQDWLRQDO *UDLQV &RXQFLO¶V ,*& IRUH FDVWWRWDO,WDOLDQJUDLQVSURGXFWLRQLQ ZLOOEHPLO OLRQWRQQHVXSIURPPLOOLRQWRQQHVLQ:KHDWSUR GXFWLRQ LV IRUHFDVW DW PLOOLRQ WRQQHV XS IURP PLOOLRQ LQ ZLWKWKH,*&QRWLQJWKDWUDLQVKDGLPSURYHGWKHRXWORRN in previously dry areas, while corn production is set to rise to 6.3 million tonnes from 6 million. Sorghum production is forecast at WRQQHVLQ XSIURPWKHSUHYLRXV\HDU Durum wheat production, which is also included in the wheat WRWDOLQ LVIRUHFDVWDWPLOOLRQWRQQHVFRPSDUHGZLWK PLOOLRQWKH\HDUEHIRUH The European grain sector organization COCERAL forecasts ,WDO\¶V SURGXFWLRQ RI RLOVHHGV DW PLOOLRQ WRQQHV XS IURP PLOOLRQLQ 6R\EHDQV GRPLQDWH ZLWK 2018 production forecast DWPLOOLRQWRQQHVXS from 1.140 million the year ITALY EHIRUH 5DSHVHHG SURGXF tion in 2018 is forecast at 24,000 tonnes, down from WKH\HDUEHIRUHDQG VXQÀRZHU VHHG SURGXFWLRQ is forecast at 22,000 tonnes, XSIURP WKHSULRU\HDU $QDQQXDODWWDFKpUHSRUWRQWKHULFHVHFWRUSXEOLVKHG LQ0D\QRWHVWKDW,WDO\LVWKHODUJHVWULFHSURGXFHU LQWKH(8³$FFRUGLQJWRWKHODWHVW¿JXUHVIURPWKH,WDO LDQ5LFH$VVRFLDWLRQ (QWHULVL ,WDO\¶V«ULFHDUHDLV H[SHFWHGDWKHFWDUHV KD PRUHWKDQGULYHQ E\WKHKLJKHUSUR¿WDELOLW\RIWKHVHFWRUFRPSDUHGWRFRUQDQGVR\ EHDQV´ 7KHUHSRUWDGGVWKDW,WDO\¶VURXJKULFHSURGXFWLRQZDV SLOVAKIA GERMANY AUSTRIA SWITZERLAND FRANCE HUNGARY CROATIA SLOVENIA ROMANIA YUGOSLAVIA ANDORRA MACEDONIA ALBANIA GREECE SPAIN TUNISIA 28 MALTA Key Facts Capital: Rome Population: 62,137,802 (July 2017 est.) Religions: Christian 80% (overwhelmingly Roman Catholic with very small groups of Jehovah's Witnesses and Protestants), Muslim (about 800,000 to 1 million), atheist and agnostic 20%. Location: Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. Government: Parliamentary republic. Chief of state: President Sergio Mattarella (since Feb. 3, 2015); head of government: Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni (since Dec. 12, 2016). Economy: Italy's economy compromises a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, highly subsidized, agricultural south, with a legacy of unemployment and underdevelopment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of highquality consumer goods produced by small and mediumsized enterprises, many of them family-owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 17% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction and service sectors. Italy is the third-largest economy in the euro zone, but its exceptionally high public debt and structural impediments to growth have rendered it vulnerable to scrutiny by financial markets. Public debt has increased steadily since 2007, reaching 131% of GDP in 2017. Investor concerns about Italy and the broader euro-zone crisis eased in 2013, bringing down Italy's borrowing costs on sovereign government debt from euro-era records. The government still faces pressure from investors and European partners to sustain its efforts to address Italy's longstanding structural economic problems, including labor market inefficiencies, a sluggish judicial system, and a weak banking sector. Italy's economy returned to modest growth in late 2014 for the first time since 2011. In 2015-16, Italy's economy grew at about 1% each year, and in 2017 growth accelerated to 1.5% of GDP. In 2017, overall unemployment was 11.4%, but youth unemployment remained high at 37.1%. GDP per capita: $38,000 (2017 est.); inflation: 1.4% (2017 est.); unemployment: 11.4% (2017 est.). Currency: Euros: 0.81 euro equals 1 U.S. dollar (April 20, 2018). Exports: $499.1 billion (2017 est.): engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; foodstuffs, beverages, and tobacco; minerals, nonferrous metals. Imports: $426.7 billion (2017 est.): engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages, tobacco. Agriculture: 2.1% of GDP and 3.9% of the labor force. Internet: Code: .it; 38,025,661 users. Source: CIA World Factbook May 2018 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com
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