Ukraine offers to send wheat shipments to Egypt via Poland: Minister

CAIRO – 19 May 2022: Egypt’s Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali al-Moselhi affirmed that the four shipments that were contracted with Ukraine are stranded in the black Sea due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Al Shorouk newspaper reported on Wednesday.

In his speech at the 22nd International Exhibition for Grain industries Technology Mills (Grain Tech Egypt) which is currently convening from May 17-19, the minister added that the Ukrainian side offered to transport the wheat shipments that were contracted through Poland via railways.

Reuters reported some Egyptian traders affirming that about 300,000 tons of wheat are stranded in Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict.

Egypt is the largest wheat importer in the world and was mainly dependent on Ukraine and Russia in wheat supply from abroad. To avoid the repercussions of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the government adopted several domestic measures, such as increasing the cultivation areas of wheat, giving financial incentives to the local farmers, and opening new channels with other countries like India.

As of May 18, 2022, more than 2.14 million tons of wheat have been collected from farmers in Egypt, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said on Wednesday, during a Cabinet meeting in the New Administrative Capital.

Spokesman For the Ministry of Agriculture Mohamed el-Kersh said earlier this month that Egypt's new silos are now receiving 5.6 million tons of wheat in a way compatible with wheat storage standards to achieve self-sufficiency of the grain.

In TV statements, he said the Toshka area is one of the emerging farmlands in Egypt after the state managed to provide the new investments it needs, especially in the fields of water and electricity.

He added that 220,000 feddans were cultivated with wheat this year, despite some challenges topped by water scarcity.