According to the Cabinet, the strategic stockpile of wheat in Egypt has declined to cover only 2.6 months, down from 4 months in early March. This coincided with the start of the local wheat harvest, on which the government relies as an alternative to imported wheat. The government had announced its intention to stop importing wheat until the end of the year due to its high prices after the war between Russia and Ukraine, the largest wheat supplier to Egypt.
The former head of the Mills Division, Walid Diab, said that the decline in the strategic stock of wheat would cause the government to disburse wheat in conjunction with the start of supply from farmers, contrary to what all parties are accustomed to. He added that the government would usually wait for the target amount to be reached and then start distributing.
As for a reason for the gap between what was consumed during a month and the size of the decline in the strategic stock, Diab believes that this comes from not disclosing the actual size of the store, which seems to have been less than what was announced. According to Diab, the limited stock will eventually resort to imports. As he explained, the government’s announcement that it will not resort to imports will affect wheat prices globally by declining, given that Egypt is the largest importer of wheat in the world.
The government had announced that it aims to collect six million tons of local wheat during the current harvest, double the amount it usually receives each year. However, many doubt that this can be achieved.
