Egypt’s local wheat supply season is over after 4.2 million tons collected: Min.

CAIRO – 2 September 2022: The Egyptian local wheat supply season, which has started early in April, is over, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi announced on Thursday.

The quantities of wheat collected from farmers this year in Egypt supplied totaled 4.2 million tons, the minister said, which is half the quantity of wheat cultivated in Egypt this year.

This comes while Egypt has announced earlier targeting to collect between 5 to 5.5 million tons of local wheat from farmers during the outgoing season.

The wheat supplied locally to the state this year has reflected a great leap in the farmers’ response after the rise in wheat prices ratified by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi this year, Moselhi said.

The ministers also praised Sisi’s decision to increase incentives provided to farmers for supplying their wheat to the state.

Supply Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Kamal said the national project of silos implemented over the past years has enabled the state to store large quantities of wheat.

This comes after the new silos expanded the wheat storage capacity of the nation to 4 million tones instead of no more than 1.2 million tons before 2014.

The Egyptian Cabinet announced in a statement on Wednesday setting the country's initial wheat procurement price at LE 1,000 for the 2023 wheat harvest season.

The decision raises the wheat procurement price from LE 865-885 during the current wheat harvest season, which started in April.

In the statement, the Cabinet said the new initial price aims at encouraging farmers to cultivate wheat and supply the cultivated quantities to the state.

Egypt, a top wheat importer requires about 18 million tons of wheat annually, which it imports from abroad and also collects from farmers.

The current Russia-Ukraine war has forced Egypt to find new sources for wheat imports given that the country used to get 80 percent of its imported wheat from both conflicting countries.

Moselhi stated early in August that the strategic reserve of wheat is sufficient for up to 7.3 months, adding that since the outbreak of the global crisis, around 1.8 million tons of wheat of various origins have been imported.