Egypt may add Ukraine, Romania to list of wheat suppliers

Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer, is considering adding Romania and Ukraine to its list of approved suppliers, said Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of the state-run General Authority for Supply Commodities.

The authority, which buys between 5 million and 6 million metric tons of the grain a year via international tenders because local production is too low to meet demand in the Arab world’s most populous nation, wants to diversify its range of sources, Nomani said.

“We are still studying the possibility of adding the Romanian and the Ukrainian source to our list,” Nomani said today in a phone interview from Cairo. “This will depend on several factors, including the quality of the crop and their ability to export, especially in the long-run.”

Nomani said he will visit Russia July 18-22 as part of a delegation to meet with government officials and private grain traders for discussions on regulations governing wheat shipments.

When Russia halted grain exports in mid-August as the country suffered the worst drought in a half century the Egyptian authority, also known as GASC, dropped it from the list of approved sources for wheat imports and bought subsitute supplies from countries including France and the U.S. Egypt reinstated Russia after the country’s export ban expired on July 1 and bought 180,000 tons of Russian grain, GASC said July 7.