CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt is to receive a total of 189,000 tonnes of previously contracted wheat in the coming days after it was shipped from Russia, Romania and Ukraine, the Supply Ministry said on Sunday.
Egypt is often the largest importer of wheat in the world and its purchases have been thrown into turmoil by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Egypt received 63,000 tonnes of French wheat on March 8, and a similar amount of Romanian wheat on March 5, the Supply Ministry’s General Authority for Supply Commodities said in a statement.
Egyptian officials have said they are working to secure booked cargoes of wheat from the Black Sea and to purchase from other origins amid the uncertainty over Black Sea shipments.
Existing reserves and wheat from the upcoming harvest should be sufficient to provide subsidised bread until close to the end of the year, they say.
However, Egypt has banned the export of some staples including wheat for three months and local prices of bread, flour and wheat have risen sharply since the war in Ukraine began.
(Reporting by Sarah El Safty Writing by Moataz Mohamed and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)
