Reuters: Egypt wheat reserves sufficient for 4.5 months

CAIRO – 5 December 2017: Egypt has about 3.4 million tons of wheat, sufficient for more than 4.5 months, Minister of Supply Ali Moselhy told Reuters on Tuesday.

Egypt, the world’s largest importer of the grain, has said in November that it expects to buy about 7 million tons of wheat during the current 2017/2018 fiscal year, which started July 1.

Egypt consumes around 9.6 million tons of wheat annually. It imported about 5.58 million tons in fiscal year 2016/2017, compared to 4.44 million tons in the previous year.

On August 16, Egypt purchased 355,000 tons of wheat in a global tender, targeting the import of about 7 million tons in FY 2017/2018.

Earlier in July, the government bought around 3.4 million tons of wheat from farmers.

In fiscal year 2016/2017, wheat imports registered 5.58 million tons, up from 4.4 million tons in the previous year.