Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Egypt to import 4Mln tonnes of wheat for production in 2023

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 9 Jan 2023 22:03
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

Egypt has plans to import four million tonnes of wheat in 2023 after it struggled to get through 2022 due to the wheat shortages it was going through.

  • x
  •  worker collects Egyptian traditional 'baladi' flatbread, at a bakery, in el-Sharabia, Shubra district, Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, March 2, 2022 (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)
    A worker collects Egyptian traditional 'baladi' flatbread, at a bakery, in el-Sharabia, Shubra district, Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, March 2, 2022 (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)

Egypt is planning on importing around 4 million tonnes of wheat in 2023 for bread production, which is subsidized by the government in Cairo, Egyptian Supply and Internal Trade Minister Ali Moselhi told Russian news agency Sputnik on Monday

"The annual consumption of wheat [for state-subsidized bread production] in Egypt is estimated at 9 million tonnes. This year we plan to receive 5 million tonnes of local wheat and import 4 million tonnes," Moselhi said.

The head of the farmers' syndicate in Egypt, Hussein Abu Saddam, told AFP back in October that he has already observed an exodus from the countryside brought on by the changing climate.

Agriculture in Egypt -- "one of the aridest countries in the world" -- has grown even less profitable because of new climate-linked hazards such as "the appearance of new parasites," he said. "Young people from rural areas are migrating abroad or to big cities to work in industry."

Egypt is highly dependent on imports when it comes to the key raw material used to make bread in a country whose population perceives the good as an essential staple to a meal.

El Salvador, Ghana, Egypt, Tunisia, and Pakistan - all emerging economies - will be challenged with a historic cascade of defaults amounting to a quarter of a trillion dollars of debt, which will continue to exert pressure on economies, Bloomberg reported months back. 

In early 2022, it was reported that the Egyptian wheat market was struggling in the face of the Ukraine crisis, with the prices of wheat in the world's biggest importer rising after it tried to boost local production before realizing that its supplies could not meet public demand.

Related News

Egypt condemns Israeli invasion of Ramallah, urges intl. action

Egypt condemns "Israel's" crimes in Gaza, calls for global action

The repercussions of the crisis have extended to West Asia and North Africa, with the region importing much of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Egypt has started to feel the impact of the crisis, but it is not the first one, since Lebanon was the first to feel the heat of the issue, with Moscow and Kiev making up 65% of the country's wheat supplies.

Additionally, Egypt suffered from wheat shortages as the wheat was docked right on its seaports. Almost a million tonnes of wheat was blocked in October in Egyptian seaports due to the shortage of US dollars in the country.

"Some 800,000-900,000 tonnes of wheat has accumulated in Egyptian ports over the past three weeks. We expect this cargo to be released, which is impossible for now because of a dollar shortage," said Walid Diab a member of the Chamber of Cereals Industry.

Cairo has been increasing its spending on imports as well as international commitments especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, after racking up $45 billion in net foreign reserves in 2020, with dollar reserves shrinking by $33.1 billion during the summer. 

The shortage in USD in Egypt has ramped up the prices of bread, which is unsubsidized, in addition to other baked goods, increasing the prices of corn and soy. This created a domino effect in animal feed, meat, and poultry markets, according to Diab.

The cereals chamber has notified the ministries of finance and supply about the wheat imports hold-up. However, Diab blames the Central Bank of Egypt, which is solely in charge of managing the dollar resources in the country. 

About 42% of Egypt's grains are imported from Russia or Ukraine, and 31% of all tourists in the country are Russians and Ukrainians, according to the minister. However, Cairo has been seeking alternative suppliers of grain while attempting to attract visitors from different countries. 

Ukraine and Russia, which share the Black Sea, are the world's breadbasket: they provide collectively 28% of global wheat exports. Russia and Belarus, in parallel, provide 40% of potash, an important fertilizer. Countries dependent on imports, particularly poor countries, are the first victims of this downfall as grain and corn prices are on an increase. 

  • Egypt
  • Russia
  • United Nations
  • Wheat
  • Ukraine
  • Wheat crisis

Most Read

Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025
The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

The ‘Arab Façade’ for Israeli occupation in Gaza

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)
Politics

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

A Palestinian youth stands on a hill overlooking IsraelI Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP)
Politics

77 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 7

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during a joint press conference with US deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, Tuesday, August 26, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy Barrack calls Lebanese journalists 'animalistic"'

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)
Politics

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS