Egypt’s wheat stock is enough for 6 months, says Minister ahead of Al Adha Feast

CAIRO – 19 June 2023: Egypt’s strategic reserve of wheat is sufficient for 6 months, announced Ali Al-Moselhy, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, ahead of Eid Al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice for Muslims).

During laying the foundation stone for two new logistical and commercial areas in Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, on an area of 22 acres with investments of approximately EGP 6 billion, he added that the domestic wheat supply from the local farmers has reached 3.630 million tons since the beginning of the season in mid-April 2023.

Al-Moselhi added that the strategic reserve of edible oil is enough for more than 4 months, while rice stock, meat and are sufficient to about 3.3 months. As for the pourtly reserve, it is enough for about 7 months after importing more than 25,000 tons during the last period, the Minister added.

In April 2023, the Egyptian Ministry of Finance allocated 45 billion EGP to purchase local wheat from farmers this year, with an increase of more than 19 billion EGP compared to the last year, said Minister Mohamed Maait in a statement.

The government has started to buy the local wheat from the beginning of this April to the mid-August, with an additional cost to increase the price of one ardab (150 kilograms) by 74% from 865 EGP to 1,500 EGP, Maait added.

The increase in the wheat purchase price comes with the implementation of the presidential directives to support farmers and encourage them to expand the cultivation of strategic crops like wheat, in a way that contributes to achieving self-sufficiency.

Egypt has been suffering from a crisis of wheat supply from conflicting Russia and Ukraine, the two biggest wheat importers to Egypt. So, the government is targeting to increase the area of the wheat crops by 1.5 million feddans over the few coming years in accordance with a new study conducted by the Egyptian Cabinet's Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC).