Sunday, Dec 20, 2009
CAIRO (Dow Jones)Egypt's wheat reserves are enough for at least five months of consumption, the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry said Sunday.
"Egypt's secure balance of wheat is enough for over a five-month period," it said in an e-mailed statement.
The statement also said the country had tightened quality measures on Russian wheat.
"Imported Russian wheat into Egypt in the last two months did not enter the country except after the approval of specialized committees from the ministries of health and agriculture...the Russian wheat shipments were accompanied with a quality certificate from the Russian agriculture ministry based on a mutual agreement," said the ministry, quoting Nomani Nasr, the vice chairman of the General Authority of Supply and Commodities.
Egypt's wheat imports have been at the center of controversy since May, when Egyptian authorities quarantined a shipment of 52,501 metric tons of Russian wheat imported by Egyptian Traders Co., one of the country's largest wheat importers, because it found weed seeds and dead insects in the grain.
Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, imported 50% of its wheat imports from Russia in the fiscal year 2009-2010, the statement said. Wheat from France made up 34%, followed by U.S. wheat at 11%, and then Germany and Canada at 3% and 2% respectively, the ministry said.
Egypt imported a total of 3.61 million tons in the 2009-2010 financial year, the statement added.
-By Shereen El Gazzar, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires' +201 2429 8286; Shereen.elgazzar@gmail.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
20-12-09 1611GMT
