EGYPT – Egyptian authorities plans to establish six wheat silos in 2024 at an investment cost of US$145.6 million, Zawya has reported.
The French Development Agency (AFD) will finance the project with US$61.5 million, with the country to provide the remaining sum ofUS $84.1 million, according to sources.
The move aims to shore up the country’s storage capacity of wheat silos by 420,000 tons to reach a total capacity of 4.620 million tons, representing about 10% of the country’s current total capacity,
The sources pointed out that the government is targeting to increase the storage capacity of state-owned wheat silos by at least 2.5 to 3 million tons within three to four years to reach a capacity ranging between 6.4 and 7 million tons.
The announcement comes after Egypt’s state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) revealed that it plans to purchase more than 5 million tonnes (MT) of wheat in 2024 through international tenders.
This objective is an increase of 500,000 tonnes compared to imports made in 2023.
According to Nassr Nomani, the adviser to the head of the ministry, the domestic consumption of the grain crop currently exceeds 20 million tonnes per year.
At the same time, he noted, the total production is just over 9million tonnes, hence, the government and the private sector supplements the deficiency by importing 11 million tonnes.
In 2023, Egypt purchased about 4.5 million tonnes of wheat through GASC tenders, including almost 3 million tonnes from Russia, 780,000 tonnes from Romania, 360,000 tonnes from France, 270, 000 tonnes from Bulgaria and 120,000 tonnes from Ukraine.
Overall, wheat purchases reached 10.8 million tonnes in 2023, representing a 14.7% jump from 2022, according to data from traders relayed by Reuters.
The government has also set its sights on procuring around 3.5 million tons of locally produced wheat in the forthcoming season, underlining its dedication to fortifying domestic agricultural production.
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