The UAE is supplying us with wheat: Egypt has signed a USD 500 mn agreement to purchase wheat from Emirati agribusiness Al Dahra, Dahra said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The pact will see Egypt import USD 100 mn of milling wheat a year over a five-year period, with the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) providing the financing. “The low-cost financing package from ADEX helps us procure high quality wheat at the lowest cost financing available, with comfortable payment terms,” Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said. ADEX is the export finance arm of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.

This is more than we expected: Moselhy told Bloomberg last month that negotiations were under way to obtain USD 400 mn in financing to fund wheat purchases.

Remember: Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, has received support from international lenders to fund imports since the conflict in Ukraine upended global food markets and triggered an FX crunch at home. The World Bank and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation(IFTC) have together provided bns of USD in loans for wheat imports amid higher wheat prices and difficulties making payment due to the FX crunch.

The current stockpile: The country currently has enough wheat in reserve to last 4.7 months, the minister said yesterday.

SOUND SMART- Al Dahra today farms some 28k hectares in Egypt with a focus on staple crops. It is the largest private-sector producer of wheat and corn in Egypt and also grows onions, sugar beet, sesame, citrus, sorghum, and forage for livestock. Some 85% of its output, the company says, is sold in Egypt.

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