CAIRO, EGYPT – Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), the country's ’s grains buyer, announced on July 17 a tender for an unspecified amount of wheat from the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, and Brazil.

With shipments from Ukraine – traditionally one of Egypt’s largest wheat suppliers – severely limited because of its war with Russia, Egypt has been aggressively looking to other sources to satisfy its wheat needs. 

In recent weeks, GASC has contracted 1.28 million tonnes of wheat from France, Romania, Russia and Bulgaria, which are scheduled to be shipped to Egypt from July through October. It also has inked trade deals with India, which would have been an unlikely source for imports in years past.

Egyptian officials have indicated that the country needs to import at least 5 million tonnes of wheat in the 2022-23 marketing year.

Egypt also is aiming to increase domestic wheat production. According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), Egypt is projected to produce 9.8 million tonnes in 2022-23, which is 800,000 tonnes more than last year’s record total.

Egypt, the world’s leading wheat importer and among the leaders in wheat consumption per capita, currently has enough wheat stocks to last six months, according to government officials.