Egypt contracts to purchase 465K tons of wheat from Russia, Romania and Bulgaria

CAIRO – 2 June 2022: The Egyptian General Authority for Supply Commodities had contracted to purchase 465,000 tons of wheat from Russia, Romania and Bulgaria.

The authority said in a statement on Wednesday these quantities were divided as follows: 115,000 tons of Russian wheat to be shipped in the period from July 20-31, 2022; and 240,000 tons of Romanian wheat to be shipped from August 1-10, 2022.

Head of the Procurement and Storage Sector at the Holding Company for Silos affiliated with the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade Yasser Tawfik stated in a phone-in Tuesday that Egypt is awaiting the arrival of five cargo ships carrying wheat imported from four countries.

The vessels are expected to dock at Egyptian seaports in the first week of June coming from Bulgaria (55,000 tons), Russia (63,000 tons), and France (63,000 tons). A Ukrainian ship has departed from Romania, while another Egyptian ship has not yet left Ukraine. 

Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali el-Moselhi said farmers delivered 3.3 million tons of local wheat to the state so far, as part of the local wheat harvest season that has started in April, according to a statement by the supply ministry on Monday.

The ministry has secured 450 points to receive local wheat this year, Moselhi said, affirming that the strategic reserve is enough to provide for the targeted quantity of local wheat.

Earlier in March, Moselhi said that Egypt’s strategic reserve of wheat is sufficient to last the country through 3.4 months.

Moselhi said his ministry targets to procure 6 million tons of wheat from local farmers during the April harvest season, adding that LE 36 billion have been allocated for this purpose.

Egypt’s Cabinet previously announced setting the additional incentives ordered earlier by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to encourage farmers to hand their local wheat to the state at LE 65 per ardeb.

As per the directives, the price of wheat ardeb, which is equal to 150 kilograms, will be LE 865, 875, and 885 for wheat with purity percentage of 22.5, 23, and 23.5, respectively.

Egypt has already raised the price of an ardeb from LE 710 to nearly LE 810 in 2021 to encourage farmers to supply local wheat.

The ministers of Supply and internal trade, finance, and agriculture issued a decree in March to start the season of supplying locally produced wheat for 2022 on April 1 instead of April 15.

Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world.

Additional reporting by MENA