Global Trade Alert

On 04 November 2016, the government of Egypt raised the supply price of wheat, sugar cane and corn that it purchases from local farmers during the 2016/17 period.

Specifically, the government price paid to local wheat producers increased from EGP 420 (USD 27.03) to EGP 450 (USD 28.96) per approximately 150 kg of produce. Meanwhile, the price paid by the government to the local producers of corn in 2016, increased from EGP 2.100 (USD 135.16) to EGP 2.500 (USD 160.90) per 150 kg approximately.

Lastly, in addition to the denoted, the government price paid for sugar cane to local producers increased from EGP 400 (USD 25.74) to EGP 500 (USD 32.18) per tonne.

The decision of the government of Egypt to increase the purchasing price it pays for the denoted local crops has been undertaken as a result of the governmental initiative to further support for local farmers, as a higher purchasing price results in higher amounts of financial resources allocated per producer.

On the fourth quarter of 2016 (i.e. a quarter when this measure was announced for the first time),  the global price indicated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) per tonne of corn was USD 152.18  (approximately 22.82 per 150 kg). Furthermore, the global price indicated by IMF for wheat was USD 122.61 per tonne (approximately USD 18.39 per 150 kg). These prices provided by the IMF, indicate that the government of Egypt pays to its local producers a price higher than the one indicated by IMF.