June 23, 2022

 

Egypt to buy 5 million tonnes of wheat

 

Ali Moselhi, Egypt's Minister of Supply, said the country needs to import 5 million tons of wheat for the fiscal year 2022/23, Al-Ahram reported.

 

Kamal Hashim, chairman of the state-run General Company for Silos and Storage, said 4.1 million tonnes of local wheat have been gathered from farmers since the start of the supply season in April and ends in August.

 

Hashim said this is the first time Egypt has gathered more than four million tonnes of domestic wheat.

 

According to official statements, the local wheat supply, which is anticipated to grow from 3.5 million tonnes in 2021 to six million tonnes this year, will increase the strategic wheat reserves to support local consumption until January 2023.

 

Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture said more than 400,000 feddans of additional land have been set aside for wheat cultivation, which has increased the amount of wheat that is anticipated to be produced this year.

 

The directives issued by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to give farmers incentives to sell more of their crop to the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade also contributed to its occurrence.

 

In May, Moselhi testified before the Senate that Egypt is working hard to increase its wheat production self-sufficiency with the goal of "meeting 65 percent of domestic needs by the year 2024."

 

Egypt, the top importer of wheat worldwide, is attempting to diversify its wheat supply in the interim and in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Before the war, Russia and Ukraine supplied 80% of Egypt's imports of wheat.

 

Moselhi said Portugal has now been added to Egypt's list of nations from which wheat can be imported. In the middle of June, France sent 63,000 tonnes of wheat to Egypt.

 

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, made the announcement on June 15 during her visit to Egypt. The EU has recently provided EUR 100 million ~US$105 million; EUR 1 = US$1.05) in immediate relief to encourage investments in Egypt's agricultural sector and meet the nation's food needs during the global grain crisis brought on by the Russian-Ukrainian War.

 

Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) had signed a deal to buy 465,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia, Bulgaria, and Romania, making it the largest wheat purchase the nation has made since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

 

Egypt signed a contract to import 61,500 tonnes of Indian wheat during the first week of May.

 

-      Al-Ahram