Egypt in new partnership to import wheat from Turkey

Egypt is contemplating the importation of wheat from Turkey in addition to other sources, as stated by Hossam Elgrahy, the Vice Chairman of the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) in a conversation with Asharq Bloomberg.

Elgrahy disclosed that Egypt’s reserves include 6.3 months of wheat, 13 months of sugar, 6.2 months of oil, enough frozen and live meat for 10 months, and adequate poultry supplies for 10 months.

To meet demands, Egypt augmented its wheat imports by approximately 28.3 percent in the first half of 2024 due to increased availability of the dollar in banks and a decline in global wheat prices. In H1 of 2024, Egypt imported 6.8 million tons, up from 5.3 million tons in the corresponding period last year, according to a government official cited by Asharq.

In early August, The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade raised the selling prices of wheat (both local and imported) used for subsidized bread by 20 percent to LE 13,750 per ton starting this August, as per a government document reviewed by Asharq Bloomberg.

The document also revealed that mills hiked the price of flour supplied to local bread bakeries to LE 16,000 per ton in early August from LE 11,800 per ton, marking a 35 percent increase.