Egypt Wheat Stocks Sufficient Till Mid-Feb 2014 – Minister

Egypt’s current stock of wheat is sufficient till mid-February of 2014, the country’s supply ministers asserted on Monday.

Owing to the growing shortage in Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves, Dr. Mohamed Abu Shady – Minister of Supply and Internal Trade – stated that the current interim government was forced to import one million and 80 thousand tons of wheat.

In an interview with Al-Hayat channel on Monday evening, Minister further referred that the deposed president Mohamed Morsi’s government had halted importing wheat for several months amid relying on falsified data on the domestic wheat production.

Elsewhere, Egypt is considering raising the the local wheat price for the 2013-2014 season to 420 pounds per Ardab from 400 pounds, Ayman Abou Hadid, the minister of agriculture, said in an interview.

Raising the price above import costs would encourage farmers to plant more wheat, he said. Planting in the Delta region typically starts in November and the harvest is in April and May.