Egypt’s wheat imports rose by more than a million metric tonnes in 2023, data seen by Reuters shows, with traders citing a dip in global prices from highs reached after Russia invaded Ukraine.
One of the world’s top wheat importers, Egypt uses the grain it buys for heavily subsidised bread available to more than two thirds of the North African nation’s 105 million population.
Egypt imported about 10.88m tonnes of wheat in 2023, up 14.7 per cent from 9.48m tonnes in 2022, the data showed. That was mainly because shipments delivered to state buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), jumped by 26pc to about 5.6m tonnes.
Imports by the private sector rose 1.3pc to 5.12m tonnes.
“Imports in 2022 were extraordinarily low because of high prices and the FX crunch following the war in Ukraine, when importers weren’t able to buy as much,” said Hesham Soliman, president of Egyptian merchant Mediterranean Star.
The growing population and rising demand could have led to a bigger increase in wheat imports but for Egypt’s chronic shortage of foreign currency, he said.
Egypt’s total wheat imports fell 18.7pc to about 9.5m tonnes in 2022, estimated to be the lowest since 2013, as the war in Ukraine disrupted GASC’s wheat purchases, caused a spike in global prices and exacerbated a foreign exchange crisis in Egypt that left private importers unable to pay for wheat stuck at ports.
Most of Egypt’s 2023 imports came from Russia, with shipments rising 39.5pc to 7.56m tonnes, accounting for 69.5pc of total wheat imports.
Wheat imports from Ukraine have edged up to 1.28m tonnes after dipping to 845,587 tonnes in 2022, with last year’s shipments accounting for 11.8pc of imports.
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