Egypt's state importers are reducing wheat purchases, while private ones are increasing them.

The share of private companies among wheat importers to Egypt is growing, while purchases of corn from South America are decreasing. For the first time in two decades, in the current season, private companies have increased their share in wheat imports to 75.8%, while state-owned companies have decreased to 24%, although usually state importers dominated the wheat market. Since December 6, the state wheat import has been managed by the Mostakbal Misr agency, which has changed its strategy to purchase grain from local companies and privately (instead of tenders) from global suppliers. The agency lacks experience in international trade, so wheat imports are increasingly shifting to the private sector. From July to September, Egypt imported 3.3 million tons of wheat (626 thousand tons less than in the same period last year), and in total in 2025/26, the MR will purchase 13.2 million tons of wheat, which will exceed the previous season's figure by 300 thousand tons and will satisfy ...