Egypt will purchase 180000 tonnes of wheat from India

27 Jun 2022 , 09:16 AM

The pact, which is a part of Egypt’s efforts to diversify its wheat sources, calls for Egypt to purchase 180,000 tonnes of wheat from India, down from the previous agreement, Supply Minister Aly Moselhy announced on Sunday.

One of the top wheat importers in the world, Egypt, are searching for alternatives to the Black Sea grain supplies that are being disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Egypt’s primary wheat suppliers have been Russia and Ukraine. Egypt, which massively subsidizes bread for its 70 million citizens, has also seen an increase in import costs as a result of the Ukraine conflict.

Although a deal had not yet been finalized, Moselhy had stated in May that Egypt had agreed to purchase 500,000 tonnes of wheat from India. Due to decreased domestic output, India restricted wheat exports in May but allowed exceptions for nations like Egypt that needed to ensure their food security.

According to the supplier, the need for the wheat to be accessible was that it be at the ports, Moselhy said on Sunday.

It turns out [the supplier] has 180,000 tonnes in the port, despite our agreement for 500,000 tonnes, he remarked. Moselhy noted that Egypt was also negotiating a wheat purchase deal with Russian producers.

According to Moselhy, Egypt is also considering how to get more flour out of its grain by increasing the extraction rate for wheat used in subsidized bread to 87.5 percent from 82 percent.

For the fiscal year 2022—2023, it intends to purchase 5-5.5 million tonnes of wheat while saving about 500,000 tonnes, he continued. After purchasing 3.9 million tonnes of the local harvest, there will be enough wheat on hand for 5.7 months, according to Moselhy on Sunday.