April 3, 2024

Egypt seeks to secure 3.5 million tonnes of local wheat in 2024 procurement season

Egypt has targeted obtaining 3.5 million tonnes of local wheat during the 2024 procurement season, said Ali Al Moselhy, the country's minister for supply and internal trade, on March 30.

The Egyptian government is aiming to improve its self-sufficiency in wheat and corn crops, with the aim of increasing the percentage of wheat production to 53% from 45% in 2021 and 56% for corn by 2025/2026, news magazine Egypt Today quoted Hala Al-Saeed, minister of planning, as saying.

Egypt has planted three million feddan worth of wheat since November 2023, a year-on-year increase of almost half a million acres, the Cabinet said in January 2024.

The country's wheat imports increased by 14.5% to 11 million tonnes in 2023 from 9.6 million tonnes in 2022, assistant supply minister Ibrahim Ashmawy told Ashraq Bloomberg.

Egypt imported about 12 million metric tonnes of wheat every year from 2017 to 2021, a 2022 report by the United States Department of Agriculture found. The country is often the world's largest wheat importer, depending on foreign supplies for more than 50% of its needs. It consumes 18 million tonnes of the grain per year and makes up the difference between imports and consumption through local production.

The government purchased 3.8 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers during last year's harvest season, which started on April 1 and ended on August 31.

- The National News