MIDDLE EAST

according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In 2019, the main crops produced were sugarcane (16.3M tonnes), sugar beet (10.5M tonnes), wheat (9M tonnes), maize (7.5M tonnes) and tomatoes (6.8M tonnes). Other popular crops include rice, potatoes, oranges, onions, grapes and dates.

The Oxford Business Group report says Egypt exports around 350 different agricultural products, such as citrus fruits, potatoes, onions, strawberries, pomegranates, beans, beets, guavas, peppers, mangoes, garlic, grapes and watermelons. In 2020, food exports amounted to 14% of the total value of exports, placing it third within nonpetroleum exports at US$1.8bn.

Oilseeds

In terms of oilseeds, Egypt is forecast to produce 85,000 tonnes of soyabeans in the October 2023/September 2024 marketing year (MY) according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) Oilseeds and Products Annual report on Egypt, published in April.

The soyabean growing season runs from May to August and the crop is mostly planted in middle and upper Egypt, according to the report.

On 22 February, two months before the planting season, the government announced a guaranteed procurement price of US$584/tonne for soyabeans.

“This will encourage many farmers to plant the crop,” the USDA report said.

“Egypt’s actual domestic crushing capacity will reach about 27,000 tonnes/ day, up from 12,000 tonnes/day in 2017/18,” the USDA report says.

“Most crush facilities usually operate at about 40% of their actual capacity. In the last quarter of calendar year 2022, soyabean crush operations went down to less than 20-25% of their actual capacities due to the shortage of imports and inflated prices of soyabeans.”

The USDA said in its Egypt Oilseeds Annual last year that soyabean crush operations in Egypt are dominated by two companies with over 80% of the total volume – SOYVEN and the Alex Seeds Co.

Egypt is also forecast to produce 50,000 tonnes of sunflowerseed in 2023/24, planted throughout the Delta region (northern Egypt) in May. “Planting also occurs in middle and upper Egypt, but usually begins in June,” the USDA said.

The government also announced a guaranteed procurement price on 22 February of US$487/tonne to encourage farmers to plant the crop.

Sunflowerseed imports in 2023/24 were forecast at 40,000 tonnes and consumption at 90,000 tonnes due to increased crushing activity.

“Imported sunflowerseeds are either processed by the private sector to extract sunflower oil or used for food consumption. Domestic sunflowerseeds, in contrast, are mainly crushed by small local crushers, using more primitive methods, close to their production areas in middle and upper Egypt,” the report said.

Subsidy programme

Egypt imports 95% of its vegetable oil needs and offers consumers a highly subsidised blend of sunflower and soyabean oils under the government’s food subsidy programme, according to the MEI report. More than 64M people in Egypt qualify for the subsidy programme, which covers essentials such as bread, sugar and edible oils.

In the July 2022-June 2023 fiscal year, the government allocated US$5.69bn to food subsidies, with some US$3.1bn alone earmarked for the bread subsidy programme, according to the USDA April GAIN report.

The subsidies are delivered as credits on SMART cards, and are redeemable monthly for food staples such as rice, beef and chicken.

A network of 1,300 state-owned consumer outlets managed by the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade’s (MOSIT) Holding Company for Food Industries (HCFI) accept the SMART cards, as well as 38,000 partnered, private grocery stores.

All SMART card beneficiaries are entitled to 1 litre of blended vegetable oil, the USDA wrote in its April report.

“The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) is the sole government entity responsible for purchases of crude and edible oils. Crude vegetable oil purchases occur through local private crushers or multinationals in tenders. These are refined in governmentaffiliated refineries or on a contract basis with other private-sector companies.”

Vegetable oils

The USDA forecasts consumption of soyabean, sunflower and palm oils for food and industrial use in the 2023/24 MY at some 2.16M tonnes, up 2.8% compared to 2.1M tonnes in the 2022/23 MY.

Soyabean oil production for 2023/24 is projected at 460,000 tonnes, compared with 400,000 tonnes in 2022/23.

Consumption is forecast at about 730,000 tonnes, an increase due to u