Egypt’s strategic reserves of basic
food commodities – including wheat, rice, meat and poultry – will last for
months, Egypt’s Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi has affirmed
to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
Wheat reserves are sufficient for
four months, Moselhi said in a meeting with El-Sisi on Sunday. The local wheat
supply season also starts in April, he said, noting that the country expects to
produce four million tons of wheat.
Egypt, therefore, has a strategic stock of wheat that will cover local consumption for this year, Moselhi affirmed.
Egypt has been preparing for possible scenarios regarding a likely rise in the price of commodities worldwide, especially wheat, due to the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s top wheat exporters.
A widely-condemned Russian invasion on Ukraine entered its fourth day on Sunday, killing 198 Ukrainians so far, according to the Ukrainian health ministry, and caused hundreds of thousands to flee from the country.
Russia commenced its attack on eastern Ukraine early on Thursday, where the most fertile agricultural lands exist.
Russia and Ukraine together account for 29 percent of the world’s wheat exports, according to February’s Wheat Outlook 2022 issued by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Such crises significantly impact the prices of a number of basic commodities worldwide, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly said in a cabinet meeting last week, affirming that Egypt is closely following up on the economic and political repercussions of the crisis.
Russia and Ukraine are the largest wheat exporters to Egypt, Cabinet Spokesman Nader Saad told the media on Wednesday. Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, imported 80 percent of its wheat last year from the two countries, Saad said
While Egypt has 14 other countries from which it can import wheat, including countries outside Europe, such as the United States, Argentina, Canada, and Paraguay, it is not certain these 14 other countries can fill the wheat shortage in Egypt during this crisis, Saad said.
Saad warned that the Russia-Ukraine crisis could raise wheat prices and also disrupt supply to Egypt, urging citizens to rationalize the consumption of bread.
Earlier in February, the Egyptian government confirmed that it will raise the price of subsidized bread loaves – sold at five piasters for over 30 years – but will make sure that the neediest and most marginalized citizens are not affected.
Egypt also fears a possible rise in fuel price and drop in the flow of tourists, since Russia and Ukraine are among the top exporters of tourists to Egypt.
In 2021, Egypt imported 5.5 million tons of wheat, on top of the 3.5 million tons produced locally, according to data released by the supply ministry in December.
The ministry forecast Egypt’s wheat imports in 2022 to drop to 5.3 million tons due to an increase in local production.
Egypt’s strategic reserves of beans, oil, meat and poultry will also last for three, 5.5, and 8.5 months respectively, Moselhi told El-Sisi.
The sugar-producing seasons from sugarcane and beets began in January and February respectively, Moselhi said, noting that local production will cover 90 percent of the country’s needs.
Strategic sugar reserves will last for 4.5 months, the minister noted, while reserves of rice, in which the country has achieved self-sufficiency, will last for 6.5 months.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
