May 24, 2013

Egypt collects 2.7 million tonnes of wheat

During this season, Egypt has gathered 2.7 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers as announced by Supplies Minister Bassem Ouda.

"We have reached today 2.7 million tonnes of wheat," Ouda said on state television. "This is really the start of a good success that we hope to keep going."

Ouda added he expects a harvest of between nine million and 9.5 million tonnes of domestic wheat during this season, which runs from April until early June. About half of the harvest ends up in government flour mills, with the rest being sold for feed and other purposes.

President Mohamed Mursi said last week he wants to stop importing wheat within four years and rely on Egypt's growing local production.

Egypt, which consumes around 15 million tonnes of wheat annually, usually imports around 10 million tonnes, but this year says it will buy only around four to five million tonnes from abroad as it hopes to get the rest from local production.