Egypt may cut wheat imports in new season

Refinitiv Trade Flows data show that Egypt reduced wheat imports in my 2020/21. In addition, he does not plan to increase it next season, hoping for a good harvest of his own.

For the first 10 months of the 2020/21 season, Egypt reduced wheat imports by 1% compared to the same period of the previous marketing year to 11.58 million tons, which is 10% higher than the 5-year average of 10.52 million tons.

Typically, Egypt's general Commodities Authority GASC, which is the country's largest buyer of wheat, stops or significantly reduces wheat imports from April to June because it buys it from its own producers. So, as of May 12, Egypt purchased 2.9 million tons of wheat on the domestic market, and in general it plans to purchase 3.6 million tons of locally produced wheat from April to July, which will almost correspond to the corresponding indicator of last year.

Supply Minister Ali Moselhi said that Egypt, the world's largest importer of wheat, has accumulated strategic wheat reserves that will ensure domestic consumption within 5.9 months. "First, we imported 7 million tons of wheat, then 6.5 million tons, and last year we purchased less than 6 million tons. this year, taking into account the prospects for our own harvest, wheat imports will decrease again and amount to less than 6 million tons," the minister said.

Egypt has already started buying wheat for delivery in the new season. At the Latest Tenders, GASC purchased 345 thousand tons of Black Sea wheat for delivery on August 1-10 and 240 thousand tons of Black Sea wheat for delivery on August 8-22, 2021.