Arab Finance: Egypt's imports of Ukrainian wheat decreased in 2022 by 71% to 918,000 tons, Head of Central Administration of Plant Quarantine at the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ahmed Kamal El-Attar told Asharq Business on January 22nd.
El-Attar added that the country's imports of wheat from Russia dropped by 1% last year to 5.4 million tons.
Egypt raised the price of local wheat procurement by 42% year-on-year (YoY) for 2023 season to hit EGP 1,250 per ardeb, up from EGP 880, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced in a press conference on January 18th.
Meanwhile, Madbouly said that the cost of wheat subsidies would be increased to EGP 95 billion by the end of the year, up from EGP 38 billion, according to a cabinet statement on January 19th.
Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhy told Asharq Business on January 16th that Egypt aims to procure 4 million tons of local wheat this season which will start by mid-April.
On January 11th, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directed the government to make the supply price of wheat rewarding for farmers in a way that achieve an adequate economic return for them.