The first shipment of Indian wheat, which is set to arrive in Egypt soon, complies with the international phytosanitary standards and all the Egyptian agricultural quarantine requirements. Egyptian Minister of Agriculture El-Sayed El-Quseir announced the report on the results of the examination of the Indian wheat shipment, which affirmed that the shipment is free from all quarantine pests of concern to the Egyptian side.
“The shipment, which amounts to up to 55,000 tons, was found to be of high quality with a protein content of 14% and a moisture content of less than nine percent. Accurate examination was carried out on all the wheat before and while being loaded on the ship. Also, samples of the wheat were examined in an international laboratory accredited by the European Union,” the ministry said.
World’s largest wheat importer
The wheat included in the shipment was planted in areas free from dangerous quarantine pests, the ministry affirmed, noting that the shipment is being shipped from India’s Kandla port. Egypt’s first imported wheat shipment from India comes as the country has been working on diversifying the sources of its wheat imports, holding talks with France, Argentina, and the United States. This comes amid disruption in the country’s wheat supply due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict with the two countries together accounting for nearly 30 percent of the world’s wheat exports.
Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, relies on wheat to produce bread, a key staple for Egyptians with 80% of its imports coming from Russia and Ukraine. The country imports 12 to 13 million tonnes of wheat per year, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) in 2020 – an online data visualisation platform focused on the geography and dynamics of economic activities across the globe.
