(AFP File Photo)
Egypt is set to import 300,000 tonnes of Russian, Romanian and French wheat at an average price of approximately $221 per tonne, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) announced Sunday.
The wheat was bought through an international tender and will be used for producing subsidised bread. It is expected to arrive within 10 days, starting from 10 June, whereby the expected amount includes 180,000 tonnes of Russian wheat, 60,000 Romanian and 60,000 tonnes of French wheat.
Starting from 14 April 2014, GASC has been supplied with local wheat at a price of EGP 420 per ardeb (equal to roughly 150kg).
Local farmers and traders are expected to provide a total of 3.7m tonnes of wheat, making strategic wheat reserves sufficient until September.
As much as EGP 10bn have been allocated for paying local suppliers. They will immediately receive money after sorting the supplied wheat and making sure that it is clean, unmixed with sand, gravel or old wheat.
In February, GASC signed a contract to purchase 290,000 tonnes of US wheat at an average cost of $273.11 per tonne.
The wheat was purchased through an international tender, and will also be used for the production of subsidised bread. It is expected to be supplied between 15 and 25 April, GASC vice president Mamdouh Abd El-Fattah previously noted.
During 2014, the Egyptian government, the biggest wheat importer in the world, mainly imported wheat from Russia, Romania, Canada, France, Argentina, the US and Ukraine. The ministry has previously said that no specific country is favoured when selecting importers, adding that wheat is imported through the international stock market.
