Egypt has no plans to hedge wheat contracts: Falling wheat prices have made it unnecessary for the government to purchase hedging contracts for the commodity for the coming fiscal year, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhi told Asharq Business.

Makes sense: Hedging contracts are only beneficial when global prices of a commodity are expected to rise, as they lock in the price of future shipments of that commodity. The Oil Ministry last year purchased hedging contracts to protect it from soaring oil prices.

Hedging is still on the table: The government is considering purchasing hedging contracts to guard against expected volatility in the price of certain commodities following disruption in the Red Sea that has upended global supply chains, Assistant Supply Minister Ibrahim Ashmawy said earlier this month.

ALSO- Wheat leaves the EMX: The Supply Ministry has temporarily halted wheat trading on the Egyptian Mercantile Exchange (EMX), “due to crazed price speculations and bids by some traders,” El Moselhi said. The commodity will be back on the EMX once that issue is settled.

Where do our wheat reserves stand? The country’s strategic reserves of wheat currently stand at 4.2 months, the minister said yesterday.

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