The African country wants to import one million tonnes of wheat from India.
The African country wants to import one million tonnes of wheat from India.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said on Friday, April 15, 2022 that Egypt, which is one of the largest importers of wheat from Ukraine and Russia, has given approval. India as a wheat supplier.
Due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the availability of wheat in the global markets has fallen drastically. Both the countries are major producers and exporters of wheat.
Egypt imported wheat worth about USD 1.8 billion from Russia and USD 610.8 million from Ukraine in 2020.
The African country wants to import 1 million tonnes of wheat from India and will need 2,40,000 tonnes of wheat in April.
“IIndian farmers feeding the world, Egypt approves India as wheat supplier. Modi government. The world is looking for reliable alternative sources for a stable food supply. Our farmers have ensured that our granaries are overflowing and we are ready to serve the world,” Mr Goyal said in a tweet.
Wheat export boom
India’s wheat exports increased to US$ 1.74 billion in April-January 2021-22 from US$ 340.17 million in the same period last year.
In 2019-20, wheat exports stood at USD 61.84 million, which increased to USD 549.67 million in 2020-21.
India’s wheat exports are mainly to neighboring countries, with Bangladesh accounting for the largest share in 2020-21, both in volume and value, at over 54 per cent. It has entered new wheat markets such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar and Indonesia.
The top ten countries to import Indian wheat in 2020-21 were Bangladesh, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Afghanistan, Qatar, Indonesia, Oman and Malaysia.
India’s share in the world’s wheat exports is less than 1 percent. Although, its share increased From 0.14 percent in 2016 to 0.54 percent in 2020. India is the second largest producer of wheat with a share of around 14.14 per cent in the world’s total production in 2020.
India produces about 107.59 million tonnes of wheat annually while a major part of it goes for domestic consumption.
The major wheat producing states in India are Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat.