Supply and Internal Trade Minister Khaled Hanafi has announced that Egypt's strategic reserve of wheat will cover the country's needs until early May 2016, adding that a recent tender had been contracted for approximately 235,000 tons of Russian, French and Romanian wheat.
Domestic and international companies participated in the tender at an average of US$189.17 per ton.
The wheat supply will be imported starting February 20 and will continue until March 2, according to a minister.
Hanafi added in a statement on Friday that the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) contracted wheat to provide flour for the production of subsidized bread in 26,000 state-owned bakeries. The imported wheat will also provide for the needs of private bakeries, according to Hanafi.
The GASC imports wheat through global commodity exchanges in accordance with the Egyptian standard specification No. 1601 for the year 2005. This standard complies with the international standards of the Codex No. 199 for the year 1995 and the ISO international standards No.7970 for the year 2000, the statement read.
The statement added that Egypt imports wheat from different countries, including France, Russia, Romania, Canada, Argentina, the US, Canada and the Ukraine, depending on the best offer with regards to price and the quality of wheat.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
