Egypt and Turkey became key importers of Russian wheat

Egypt became the key importer of Russian wheat in the first two months of 2023-2024 agricultural year. Reuters, citing traders, reported earlier this week that Egypt had purchased about half a million tons of Russian wheat privately, departing from the usual tender process.

Turkey is the second largest exporter of wheat, having shipped 1.085 million tons of wheat from Russia in July-August, up 3.5% from the same period a year ago. Algeria ranks third (790 thousand tons), with the volume of shipments up almost 8.9 times year-on-year.

Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia are also in the top five, importing almost the same volumes – 651 thsd tonnes and 648 thsd tonnes respectively. Bangladesh became the absolute leader in terms of wheat supplies from Russia in the first two months of the season, with a 25-fold increase in annualized terms, while Saudi Arabia grew by a quarter.

Meanwhile, in terms of grain supplies in general, i.e. including corn and barley in addition to wheat, Saudi Arabia is the leader in the first two months of the season – 1.323 million tons (up 87.8% year-on-year), with 1.284 million tons of grain supplied there (up 12.1%). Turkey took the third place (1.283 million tons, minus 6.7%).

According to the Union, 1.127 million tons of grain were exported to Iran in July-August, which is 22.6% less than a year ago during the same period, while supplies to Libya increased 3 times, to 878 thousand tons. These countries occupy the fourth and fifth positions in the ranking.

As a reminder, Russia has been deliberately shelling Ukrainian ports to raise global grain prices and replace Ukrainian grain in major markets.

Tags: export, grain, barley, wheat, Russia