Supply Commodities Authority contracted the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade to buy 55,000 tons of US wheat for the production of subsidized bread, through an international tender.
The wheat costs US$303 per ton and will be supplied starting 11 February over a period of 10 days.
Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Mohamed Abu Shady said on Sunday that the strategic reserves of wheat are enough until the end of April and that reserves would increase after the Cabinet buys domestic wheat from farmers in mid-April.
He added the ministry is supposed to buy four million tons of wheat from local farmers this year. The Cabinet set the price of the ardeb (or 5.62 bushels) at LE420 to encourage farmers to grow wheat, he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
