Egypt procured 2 million tons of wheat from local farmers

CAIRO - 18 May 2017: Egypt has procured two million tons of wheat from local farmers since its harvest began in mid-April, the Minister of Supply Ali Moselhy said on Thursday.

Egypt consumes 9.5 million tons of wheat to make its subsidized bread, 4 million tons from the local harvest and 5.5 million tons from imported wheat, Moselhy said, adding that the rate of local wheat procurement is 120,000 tons per day.

"The import plan has to continue throughout the year and should not halt just because we are procuring local wheat. We continue to import," Moselhy said.

Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), said on Wednesday it had bought 295,000 tons of wheat in a tender.