Egypt in talks with India on wheat-for-goods deal

Egypt is in discussions to import wheat from India in a deal that may include the export of products such as fertilizers in return, according to Egypt’s Supply Minister, Aly El-Moselhy.

Report informs, citing Bloomberg, that in an interview in Sharm El-Sheikh on Thursday, Moselhy said he met with the Indian ambassador to Egypt in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the potential swap agreement to secure 500,000 tons of wheat through various shipments.

As one of the world’s largest wheat importers, Egypt is more at risk than most of shortages and could face social unrest as a result.

The Egyptian government has engaged in talks with the United Arab Emirates, US and western Europe in a bid to ease potential shortages.

Securing shipments from major producer India has become more difficult since the government banned wheat exports in May in an effort to fortify the nation’s food security. It has since eased restrictions to allow suppliers to fulfill their contracts but the ban remains a challenge to securing more supplies.

Egypt buys about 11-13 million tons of grain from abroad. The main exporters to the Arab Republic are Russia and Ukraine. The volume of deliveries of Russian grain reached about 8.2 million tons last year (74.5% of all grain imports). The share of Ukraine is about 20%, with the rest imported from other states. However, military actions in Ukraine and large-scale sanctions imposed against Russia by the United States and the European Union led to disruptions in grain supplies. Under these conditions, Cairo is forced to look for alternative markets, including non-European ones. So far, Egypt has identified 16 potential grain exporters, which include some EU countries, the US, Argentina, Canada and Paraguay.