Ship carrying 31K tons of wheat cleared to leave Ukraine for Egypt: UN

CAIRO – 3 September 2022: A commercial ship carrying 31,400 metric tons of wheat has been cleared to leave Ukraine to Egypt’s Damietta port on Saturday, the United Nations has announced.

The ship is one of eight ships carrying Ukrainian wheat to other parts worldwide, according to the UN.

The total load of grains and foodstuffs transported from Ukraine’s three ports agreed upon reportedly has reached 1,766,531 metric tons on Friday, added the UN.

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.

Egypt’s Minister of Supply announced on Thursday the end of the local wheat supply season, which started early in April.

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.

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.