The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, represented by the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), aims to import more than five million tons of wheat during the current year through international tenders, in order to produce subsidized bread allocated to citizens eligible for food support.
An official document, a copy of which was obtained by Al-Masry Al-Youm, revealed that the total quantities of wheat imported during the past year amounted to about 4.5 million tons from various origins.
These include from Russia at around 2,930 million tons, Romania at 780,000 tons, France at 360,000 tons, Bulgaria at 270,000 tons, and Ukraine at 120,000 tons.
The Advisor to the Minister of Supply and Internal Trade for Supply Commodities Affairs, Nomani Nasr Nomani, said that the Egyptian market’s total consumption (governmental and private sector) of wheat exceeds 20 million tons annually.
The total production of local wheat exceeds nine million tons annually, compared to 11 million tons imported by the government and the private sector each year, he noted.
Nomani added that the private sector’s imports of wheat increased by about 10 percent compared to the government’s imports.
Over the past few years, wheat imports were at about 45 percent in favor of the private sector compared to 55 percent in favor of the government via the GASC, he said, putting the percentage of the private sector at 55 percent compared to 45 percent for the government during the past year.
Nomani added that the decline in the government’s wheat import rates came as a result for the preparation of a database for citizens eligible for food support.
Russia accounts for 70 percent of the wheat imported during the past few years, he said, adding that Egypt has up to 16 sources from which it imports wheat.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
