Egypt is in talks to buy 1 million tons of wheat from Russia

Egypt intends to purchase 1 million tons of Russian wheat within the framework of intergovernmental agreements. Russia has been harvesting record harvests for the second year in a row, which has strengthened its position as the largest supplier of wheat.

The current negotiations between the two countries concern deliveries this season, but it is unclear how close the parties are to completing the deal. In early September, the Egyptian authorities announced that they had agreed to purchase 480,000 tons of wheat from Russia during direct negotiations. The deal was concluded at a price of $270 per ton, including freight. 

However, the conclusion of this transaction did not go smoothly. Last week, Bloomberg, citing sources, wrote that Egypt refused to buy almost half a million tons of wheat from Russia, as the parties did not agree on the price, and instead will purchase grain from France and Bulgaria. 

This is the second case in recent months when the purchase of Russian wheat by the state buyer of Egypt is disrupted due to Moscow's attempts to set an unofficial lower limit on export prices. 

Later, the first Deputy Minister of Supply of Egypt denied rumors that Egypt was abandoning Russian wheat. He called the relations between Cairo and Moscow strategic and added that the parties have no disagreements on procurement.