Egypt has signed a contract to buy 350,000 tons of wheat with several European countries. The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) reported on Wednesday that the deal will be implemented as part of the state's strategy to increase its strategic reserves of basic products.
The countries were not specified. Egypt's Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade is currently tasked with securing six million tons of grain for this harvest season. The GASC announcement came days after it became known that Cairo and New Delhi had reached the final stage of negotiations on wheat supplies from India.
Egypt is the largest wheat importer in the world, buying about 11-13 million tons of grain from abroad each year. The main exporters to the Arab Republic are Russia and Ukraine. The volume of Russian grain last year reached about 8.2 million tons (74.5% of all grain imports). Ukraine's share is about 20%, the rest was replenished by other states. However, due to the conflict in Ukraine, many supply chains were disrupted.
Under these conditions, Cairo is forced to look for alternative markets, including non-European ones. Fourteen potential exporters of grain have already been identified, including the US, Argentina, Canada and Paraguay.
Since March 11, Egypt suspended exports of flour and flour products, pulses and pasta for three months. In addition, fixed prices for non-subsidized bread have been established to avoid their uncontrolled growth.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS