FAS Cairo (Post) forecasts Egypt’s wheat production in marketing year (MY) 2020/21 (July-June) to
reach 8.9 million metric tons (MMT), up by approximately 1.5 percent compared to 8.77 MMT in
marketing year 2019/20. Post attributes the rise to an increase in total area-harvested; total area harvested is set to come in at some 1.39 million hectares. Post forecasts both wheat production and
the area-harvested figures remain unchanged from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) official
MY 2019/20 estimates.
FAS Cairo forecasts Egypt’s wheat imports in MY 2020/21 at 12.85 MMT, up 0.4 percent from the MY
2019/20 import figure of 12.8 million metric tons. The latter is revised upward from the USDA official
estimate. The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) is Egypt’s largest wheat buyer. In
marketing year 2019/20 (July-June), GASC issued 23 tenders through February 11, 2020, importing 5.97
MMT of milling wheat. This represents a 3.55 percent increase from the GASC’s purchases during the
same period in marketing year 2018/19. As of February 11, 2020, the largest foreign suppliers to GASC
in MY 2019/20 included Russia (3.1 MMT), Romania (1.1 MMT), Ukraine (1.0 MMT), and France
(720,000 metric tons).
FAS Cairo forecasts Egypt’s corn imports in MY 2020/21 at 10.0 MMT, up one percent from Post’s MY
2019/20 estimate of 9.9 million metric tons. Egypt’s yellow corn production covers less than 20
percent of its feed demand needs. Imports are supplementing the feed manufacturing industry’s
expanded production.
Post is observing a strong uptick in U.S.-origin Dried Distillers Grains with Soluble (DDGS) and Corn
Gluten Meal (CGM) exports to Egypt in calendar year 2019. The United States accounted for 100
percent of Egypt’s DDGS imports and 99.4 percent of Egypt’s corn gluten meal imports in CY 2019.
Egyptian traders and consumers of U.S.-origin corn are however registering concerns with product
quality, namely excessive broken kernels. Calendar Year 2019 witnessed no U.S corn exports to the
Egyptian market. These concerns are also being reported in other markets.
FAS Cairo forecasts Egypt’s milled rice production in MY 2020/21 (Oct-Sept) at 4.3 MMT, similar to
Post’s estimate for MY 2019/20 (Oct-Sept), which remains unchanged from the USDA official estimate.
Foreign Agricultural Service
15/03/2020
