Egypt will reduce wheat imports

This was reported by Reuters with reference to sources. Egypt is said to be struggling with mounting debt, a shortage of foreign currency and persistent inflation, and the bread subsidy program is a major burden on the budget. The country's government plans to add corn flour to wheat flour in a ratio of 1:4 from April 2025, which will reduce wheat imports by 1 million tons. The interlocutors of the publication explained that the use of local corn will significantly save currency. According to LSEG, Russian wheat, which is mainly bought by Egypt, costs about $220/t, corn - $200/t. According to the 2024-2025 budget, Egypt's Ministry of Supply needs about 8.25 million tons of wheat per year to make subsidized bread available to more than 70 million Egyptians. Approximately 3.5 million tons are grown in the country, the rest is imported. Egypt is one of the world's largest importers of wheat and spends about 104 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.1 billion) on imports each year, mostly from ...