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Saudi Arabia hikes barley subsidy amid flour shortage
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Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest importer of barley, raised subsidies on the grain 71 per cent to wean farmers off wheat flour to which they turned after lower-than-average winter rains hurt pastures. The government raised the subsidy to $320 per tonne, an agriculture ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia, a largely desert kingdom, imports around six million tonnes per year of barley, out of global trade of 15 million tonnes, according to the International Grains Council. (Reuters)
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