Egypt Does Not Plan to Hedge Wheat Imports in 2024-2025

Egypt doesn’t plan to implement a hedging policy against wheat imports in the new fiscal year 2024-2025, because of the recent drop in prices, Supply minister Ali El-Mosilhy said.

“Current wheat prices have decreased to levels nearing those before Covid-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine,” the minister told Bloomberg in an interview.

Egypt, one of the world’s top wheat importers, has signaled numerous times in recent years that it planned to start hedging the grain in order to protect itself against higher prices. The country relies on subsidized wheat to feed its population.

Egypt’s stockpiles are sufficient for 4.2 months, with the country importing 6.5 million tons to 7 million tons of wheat per year, El-Mosilhy added.

Separately, according to the minister, vegetable oil inventories are sufficient for 5.1 months and sugar stockpiles for 5.4 months.

Tags: wheat, imports, stockpiles, hedge, Egypt, prices