Egypt Daily News – Egypt’s wheat imports increased by 17% during the first nine months of this year, to record $3.36 billion, compared to $2.86 billion in the same period last year, a growth of 17%.
The wheat import bill during the month of September alone declined by 22%, to $343 million, compared to $441 million in the comparative month of last year.
Sources in the General Authority for Supply Commodities in Egypt attributed the increase in the value of imports primarily to the increase in imported quantities for the benefit of the public and private sectors during the comparison period, although the increase in quantities was greater due to the decline in global prices in general during this period.
The sources explained that the amount of imports in the first 9 months of the current year amounted to about 10.94 million tons, compared to about 7.7 million tons in the corresponding period of last year, with a growth of 42%.
The sources estimated the General Authority for Supply Commodities’ share of wheat during the aforementioned period at up to 5.5 million tons, representing a little more than 50% of total imports, while the remaining quantities went to private sector companies.
This shows the government’s desire to import the largest possible amount of wheat at a time when global prices remain at low levels. Wheat prices had reached their highest historical level near $500 per ton following the Russian-Ukrainian war in mid-2022, before gradually declining to the current $250 per ton.
Securing strategic inventory
Other reasons for the increase in the government sector’s imports of wheat in particular, including the decline in what was collected from local production, which did not exceed 3.5 million tons this year, while the needs of the subsidized bread system exceed 10 million tons annually, in addition to securing the strategic stock, which usually ranges between 4-6 months.
The Egyptian Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade announced earlier this year its intention to import approximately 3.8 million tons to increase the strategic reserve. It actually issued a tender last August, but it did not collect more than 280 thousand tons of the total quantities it announced.
At the end of August, the new Minister of Supply, Sherif Farouk, said that Egypt is still confident of achieving the goal of importing 3.8 million tons of wheat, and confirmed that it will announce the mechanisms for achieving this before the end of this year through a package of practices, direct purchases, and government agreements.
Last October, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that Egypt has wheat reserves sufficient for more than 5.5 months, and that it is working to build up reserves as a precautionary measure with the escalation of regional tensions.
