CAIRO - Egypt may reach 'a higher level' of wheat self-sufficiency, growing 88 per cent of bread wheat this year, Minister of Agriculture Ayman Abu Hadid has said. "The country's wheat output is expected to total 8.2 million tonnes this year, and the Government targets an output of nine million tonnes, which Egypt needs for bread annually," the Minister was quoted by the local media this week. Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer. The most populous Arab country of 80 million people imports around half of its wheat needs. In 2010, Egypt consumed 17.9 million tonnes of wheat, of which 60 per cent were imported, according to the Ministry of Trade. Grain imports cost the State budget $3 billion annually. "Wheat output is promising as the Agricultural Research Centre has come up with three new breeds of grain, producing 22 ardeb (one ardeb equals 150 kilogramme) per feddan (acre)," Abu Hadid said. Abu Hadid unveiled that his ministry's budget rose to LE1.6 billion ($), LE145 million of it was allocated to the Agricultural Research Centre and LE600 million for the reclamation of 53,000 feddans to be given to young graduates. Egypt has enough wheat reserves for the coming eight months, sister daily Al-Gomhuria newspaper said yesterday, citing Social Solidarity Minister Gouda Abdel-Khaleq. Food prices are expected to rise, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Global inventories for all grains will fall 13 per cent this year, the US Department of Agriculture said in March. Globally, US wheat climbed to a three-week high last week. Chicago July delivery wheat has climbed almost 12 per cent. Slight weakness by the dollar helped boost commodity prices in general by making them cheaper for international buyers, according to Reuters. Estimates for the European Union's wheat harvest are shrinking by the day. The drought has scorched French wheat crops, leading analyst Agritel to forecast the country's output could fall 11.5 per cent from last year's total to 31.7 million tonnes. French milling wheat routinely competes with US soft red winter wheat, the class traded on the CBOT.
