Egypt To Buy Russian Wheat To Meet Domestic Demand

 Egypt is the leading wheat importer in the world. Egypt relies mostly on wheat imports to feed its people. Although, these imports cover only 40% of the domestic market needs. According to the Egypt customs data reports, the country's overall imports declined by 18% during the fiscal year 2022. Around 9.6 MT of wheat imports were recorded in FY 2022. In 2021, wheat imports from Egypt totaled to be $4.35 billion. Annually, Egypt is importing 12 MMT of wheat.

Egypt import export data suggests Russia is the top wheat exporter to Egypt contributing to over 57% share of Egypt's overall wheat imports. In 2021, Russia accounted for $2.48 billion worth of wheat exports to Egypt. Whereas, in 2022, it fell by 6.5%. This was due to the disruption in supply of wheat amid ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.

Also, the price of wheat was on the higher side and lack of foreign reserves forced Egypt importers and private factories to restrict their imports. Russia is then followed by Romania, Ukraine, France, Australia and the United States in terms of wheat exports to Egypt. 

Whereas, Romania is the second leading wheat exporter to Egypt. According to the Egypt import data, Romania was responsible for  over 18% share of Egypt’s wheat imports. In the fiscal year 2022, Romania’s wheat exports to Egypt fell to 1.5 million tonnes with an overall decrease of 35%. As compared to the $836 million worth of wheat exports from Romania last year, there is a significant decline.

Ukraine is the third leading market for the wheat imports of Egypt. Ukraine covers over 18% share of wheat imports from Egypt. In 2021, Ukraine exported around $815 million worth of wheat to Egypt. But due to the war crises, wheat shipments from Egypt have declined to 844,564 tonnes with a decline of 71% during 2022.

Amid ongoing crises, Egypt is looking for other options over exporters from Black sea. In 2023, there was a noticeable amount of wheat imports from the United States, Brazil and India. Whereas, wheat imports from France has seen 4x growth to 1.25 million tonnes. 

The General Authority for Supply Commodities from Egypt has recently bought around 475K metric tonnes of wheat from Russia. These might increase further in future. Egypt is currently seeking $3 billion funds from the IMF to boost its imports. As per the sources, Egypt has signed a private deal to import half million tonnes of Russian wheat. 

On the other hand, Egypt export data shows that wheat exports merely 20K dollars during 2022. Out of which, the United States had the maximum import share with over 70% followed by UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Whereas, Australia, USA and India are the fastest growing markets in terms of Egypt’s wheat imports.

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