CAIRO (Middle East Eye) – Egypt has almost nine months before its wheat reserve dries up as the country fears disruption of wheat supply from Russia, following Moscow’s war on Ukraine this week, a government spokesman said Friday.
Egypt imports nearly 85 percent of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. The two neighboring countries have been locked in a deadly war that began on Thursday.
Wheat is a lifeline for Egypt, and 102 million Egyptians rely heavily on bread as a staple food. Historically, Egypt had seen multiple uprisings protesting the hiking of prices of bread and wheat.
Nader Saad, the Cabinet spokesman, has raised the alarm that currently the country has nine months’ worth of wheat in silos, including five months of strategic reserves and four months of domestic production to cover the needs of bread for millions of Egyptians.
Saad added in his statements to a local TV channel that Egypt would not be able to buy wheat at the same price as it got from Russia.
“There are 14 countries other than Russia and Ukraine approved by the Ministry of Supply as sources for the supply of wheat, including countries located in regions outside Europe such as Australia, the United States, Canada and Paraguay,” Saad said.
“We will not be able to have the same price that we were getting before the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, due to lower supplies,” he explained.
Egypt is expected to bump up its reserve from domestic wheat production in April. However, this would not be enough to cover the needs of bread for Egyptians.
Egypt is one of the largest importers of wheat globally. Between July 2020 and June 2021, it imported 13.3mn tons of wheat, 8.96mn tons from Russia.