Egypt released corn and soy fodder worth $60 million last week: Agriculture minister

Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation El-Sayed El-Qusair announced the release of 140,000 tons of corn and soybeans worth approximately $60 million between 10 and 16 March.

El-Qusair added that the cargo, which had been held up at the country’s ports, included 124,000 tons of corn worth about $45 million and about 16,000 tons of soybeans worth about $12 million, as well as feed additives worth about $3 million.

Previously, between 24 February and 2 March, the ministry released 137,000 tons of corn and soy fodder worth approximately $67 million.

This brings the total amount of fodder released since 16 October 2022 to 3.189 million tons, including 2.287 million tons of corn, 902,000 tons of soybeans, and feed additives, with a total value of $1.575 billion, according to the statement.

Prices of essential goods, including eggs and poultry, have soared in recent months.

The hikes started as producers reported problems in the feed supply as a result of the backlogged supplies stranded in the ports over curbs previously applied on import finance due to a hard currency crunch.

The dollar’s appreciation against the Egyptian pound since March 2022 also added to the pressure.

This led to a drop in supply to the poultry market and the exit of some producers.

However, the government phased out these restrictions late last year after signing a new loan deal with the International Monetary Fund and adopting a flexible exchange rate to overcome the hard currency crunch.

Recently, the government has announced increasing frozen chicken imports to provide it at affordable prices, especially with the expected increase in demand during the holy month of Ramadan.

Tags: prices, soybeans, Poultry, Market, supplies, eggs, Egypt, corn