Miller Magazine Issue: 148 April 2022

104 COUNTRY PROFILE MILLER / APRIL 2022 ditional incentive of EGP 65/ardeb on the prices it will pay farmers to purchase the local harvest. After this increase, the government payments to farmers will range between $366.10/MT to $374.60/MT based on quality and moisture. This represents an increase of 22 percent from last sea- son’s procurement price. Wheat farmers also receive fertil- izers at a subsidized price, more than 50 percent less than market prices. The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade (MoSIT) also issued a ministerial decree requiring every wheat producer in the CY 2022 season to sell a minimum of 4.28 MT per hectare to governmental wheat purveyors. The decision stressed that if quantities of the crop are sold before the issuance of this decree, the buyer must deliver what he bought to the government authorities on the same terms. The decision also prohibits the sale of the remainder of this season’s wheat to non-governmental agencies, unless a permit is obtained from MoSIT. It is also prohibited to trans- fer wheat from one place to another except with a permit as well. The decree stipulated that large farms (25 acres or more) should sell 90 percent of their wheat production to governmental wheat purveyors and such farms will receive subsidized fertilizers for their summer crops. CONSUMPTION FAS Cairo forecasts Egypt’s wheat consumption in MY 2022/23 at 20 MMT, down by 2.43 percent from the MY 2021/22 estimate of 20.5 MMT. The post attributes the decrease to a 2.6 percent decrease in food, seed, and in- dustrial use (FSI) consumption. The decrease in FSI wheat consumption is attributed to an increase in the price of European and white flat bread (non-subsidized) as well as baked products, cakes, biscuits, wafers, croissants and pastries, etc. MY 2021/22 wheat consumption is also re- vised down by 2.38 percent from the USDA official estimate as a result of higher prices of flour, baked products, and non-subsidized flat bread. On March 16, the Egyptian government mandated MoSIT to take the necessary measures to develop a mechanism for setting a fixed price for non-subsidized bread to be ap- plied for a period of three months. This comes after prices of flour and private bread inflated in local markets, driven by producers hoarding large quantities of flour amid the conflict in Ukraine. The move also comes before the month of Ramadan to prevent any further price hikes, especially with increased demand. THE BREAD SUBSIDY SYSTEM REMAINS UNCHANGED Egypt allocates 150 loaves of subsidized bread per month to recipients (i.e., five loaves of bread per day). Bala- di bread is sold at a subsidized price of EGP 0.05 per loaf ($0.01 per loaf), this is less than one tenth of the actual cost. The government compensates bakeries for the difference