December 17, 2003

 

 

Egypt Feed Wheat Review 2003

 

Since the beginning of Marketing Year 2003/2004 (July,2003) through November,24, 2003,  Egypt imported a total of 2,199,816 MT of wheat as follows:

 

                                                                               From All Sources              From U.S      

General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC):           1,255,000                   895,000

Food Industries Holding Company (FIHC)                               86,000                    50,000

Private Sector:                                                                  858,816                   513,093

Total:                                                                             2,199,816                1,458,093

 

Private sector wheat imports are based on local industry estimates. Egypt¡¯s total wheat imports by country of origin are as follows.

 

During the months of October through the first three weeks of November, 2003, GASC purchased 120,000 MT of U.S. soft white winter (SWW) wheat at a reported prices of  between $148.32 and $142.74 per MT (FOB), 60,000 MT of U.S. hard red winter wheat (HRW) (hard red winter) wheat at a reported price of between $157.42 per MT (FOB) and 60,000 MT of USSRW (soft red winter) wheat at a reported price of $161.99 per MT (FOB) for delivery during the period of December 11 to December 31, 2003. 

 

During the same period, private sector companies also imported estimated 240,000 MT of US HRW wheat and 18,015 MT of wheat from Russia.

 

On November, 11, 2003, the government of Egypt and Syria clinched a barter agreement to exchange commodities. In this barter arrangement, Syria agreed to export 200,000 MT of soft wheat and 13,000 MT of lentil in exchange for 120,0000 MT of Egyptian rice and unspecified amounts of cement.

 

With the continuing devaluation of the pound and lack of foreign exchange availability in banks, most private sector mills are increasingly finding difficult to buy wheat.  In fact, many mills are operating at only 30-40 percent of normal capacity.  Although the production capacity of flour mills normally far exceeds demand, the operating capacity of the country's 30-35 modern mills normally operate at 60-65 percent in a given year.  It appears that the situation could worsen in the coming period unless foreign exchange is made available for local mills to import wheat.

 

 

Source: USDA