A report for the preliminary version of the economic and social development plan for the fiscal year 2023/2024, issued by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, revealed the geographical distribution of Egypt’s imports of wheat from 2017 to 2021, indicating that the annual average imports in that time amounted to US$ 2.7 billion.
The Non-oil Foreign Trade Report issued December 2022, stated that the average annual wheat imports from Russia over five years amounted to $1.5 billion, accounting for 57.1 percent of the general average of Egypt’s wheat imports during the aforementioned period.
The average imports from Ukraine amounted to $585 million, equivalent to 21.5 percent of the general average, followed by Romania with an import value of $251 million at about nine percent, then France at about $92 million at a rate of 3.4 percent, and the United States at $59 million at a rate of 2.2 percent.
The value of imports from Australia totaled $52 million, or 1.9 percent, in addition to imports from other countries, amounting to $58 million, or 2.2 percent.
Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala al-Saeed reviewed the features of the preliminary version of the economic and social development plan for the fiscal year 2024/23, the second year of the medium-term plan for sustainable development (2023/22 – 2026/25), during a plenary session for the House of Representatives on May 9.
Sufficient imports
Egyptian Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali al-Moselhi announced that the strategic reserve of basic commodities is safe and sufficient for several months, with wheat reserves to last around 2.6 months up until July 5.
During a press conference in April, Moselhi indicated that import operations will continue in parallel with the supply of local wheat.
Egypt’s grain imports from Russia have amounted to about US$334.3 million in November 2022, compared to about $194.4 million in November 2021.
This is an increase of about $139.9 million, data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in Egypt, showed.
Egypt’s imports of Russian grain topped the list of Egypt’s imports from Russia during November 2022, it added.