On this day, for 3 hours, Egypt orders its planes to avoid Iranian airspace

On Tuesday, Egypt launched an international exercise, the largest ever, according to traders, to buy 3.8 million tons of wheat. At a time when the government is trying to benefit from the decline in global prices to their lowest levels in four years.

If Egypt is able to buy wheat at low prices, this could help support its economy, according to Reuters.

Egypt received support from the International Monetary Fund and friendly Gulf states, which pumped billions of dollars in loans and investments in 2024 alone.

Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said in a press conference on Tuesday that government officials are taking the opportunity to buy what the country needs due to the current situation in the world market, adding to which the impact of the global stock selling wave is not all negative.

The deployment represents a change in strategy for the General Authority for Supply Commodities, the Egyptian government’s grain buyer, which typically buys commodities for shipment after a month or so, rather than for the a long time as the practice covers from October to April.

Egypt is one of the largest importers of wheat in the world, with the main goal of providing subsidized bread to tens of millions of citizens.

The Supply Commodity Authority alone imports around 5.5 million tonnes of wheat each year to support bread.

Egypt usually imports most of its grain needs from Russia, which represented nearly 70 percent of total wheat imports in 2023.

“This is a very strange practice,” said one dealer.

“Usually we submit shipping offers a month or two in advance. It would be very difficult to submit a shipping offer six or seven months in advance,” he said.

Some dealers were skeptical about Egypt’s ability to get the volume it wanted.

Another trader said that payment within 270 days is difficult.

“I doubt they will be able to get the full amount,” he explained.

However, a third trader said that trading companies would like to get this deal and would simply add the banks’ charges for a 270-day payment delay to their quotes.

The General Authority for Supply Products said it aims to maintain strategic stocks sufficient to meet demand for nine months.

As of July, Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves were estimated to be sufficient for 6.9 months.

A European trader told Reuters, “Egypt seems to want to have a large supply in storage, or at least the possible arrangement due to the financial problems that Egypt is facing.” ‘to suffer, or because of the fear of an external war breaking out in the Middle East.’

He explained that they might not benefit from buying in advance, because “they might regret it” if prices fall later, according to what Reuters reported.