Egyptian military agency takes over wheat buying from decades-old supply group

7/12/2024 7:00

An Egyptian military agency has taken over the country's import of strategic commodities, a letter seen by Reuters showed, replacing a decades-old state institution to take over international buying tenders and also conduct direct purchases which have in recent weeks shaken the wheat market.



As one of the world's largest wheat importers, Egypt had relied on the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), part of the Ministry of Supply, to buy the grain for a country where subsidized bread is a staple for 70 million people.



A letter from the ministry to Oksana Lut, Russia's Minister of Agriculture, said that the Mostakbal Misr Agency for Sustainable Development of the Egyptian Air Forces had become the exclusive body responsible for importing food commodities.