Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that Russia and Egypt are discussing plans to create a “grain and energy hub” in the North African country. The Russian president raised the topic at a meeting in the Kremlin with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelaty. He noted that there are “many interesting ideas” in the context of this topic for discussion. The Egyptian minister assured that his country welcomes such initiatives. This is reported by Reuters.
Egypt plays an increasingly important role in the purchase, processing and transshipment of Russian raw material flows and could serve as a logistical hub for the supply of these goods to Africa and the Middle East, the agency notes.
Egypt is the world’s largest wheat importer and a major buyer of Russian wheat. According to estimates of the railway carrier Rusagrotrans, Egypt has purchased about 7.6 million tons of Russian grain in the current season, which is roughly the same as last year.
Vladimir Putin said he had instructed the Russian government to work with Egypt on food supplies, primarily grain. He added that thanks to a good harvest last year, Russia would have no problems with supplies.
Logos Press Note: In this connection it is worth mentioning that major international grain traders claim that Egypt is currently looking for about 30 thousand tons of food wheat (protein content not less than 11.5%) from the Black Sea region for delivery to this country in April-May at the price of $260/t (including freight). At the same time, French, Ukrainian, Russian wheat for deliveries in this direction offers flour-milling quality wheat at $258-259/t (including freight). That is, it is worth fighting for the mentioned contract. Romanian wheat does not fit into the “price corridor” requested by the Egyptians – it is more expensive by several dollars.
