(AFP Photo)
Egypt’s current stock of wheat is expected to last for the coming six months, the Ministry of Supply announced Monday on its official page. The ministry pointed out that the deadline for local wheat farmers and merchants to supply their wheat during this harvest season will be on 20 June.
Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy said that since the opening of the supply gate for local wheat in mid April, the ministry has bought over 3.654m tons of local wheat. This constitutes an approximately 1.65m ton increase in purchases from the previously announced total in May.
The minister pointed out that the price of local wheat ardebs is EGP 420, which is an increase of about EGP20 from last year’s price. He added that the price increase aims to encourage local farmers and suppliers to import their wheat.
In May, the Ministry of Finance suggested raising the price of wheat for local farmers to EGP 500 per ardeb, which equals 150 kilogrames for EGP 420. Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy criticised the idea during a meeting with the Division of Cairo Bakeries and the governor of Cairo, stating that the price the state pays local farmers for one ardeb is EGP 420 and “it won’t change”.
Hanafy also noted that the price of a local ton of wheat is around EGP 800 higher than imported wheat.
