Middle East Northern Africa "can't wait" black food arrival

Huang Peizhao, a reporter in Egypt, reporter Wang Dong, reporter Wang Dong

Ship full of grains such as wheat left August 1, Odeza, Ukraine, to Lebanon. According to Lebanon's "A messenger", this marks the first grain export cargo ship to set sail since Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations signing the grain agreement on July 22. However, as one of the most important buyers in Ukraine, the food market in the Middle East and Africa is still not satisfied in the short term.

Reuters reports that due to the continuous influence of Russia and Ukraine's conflict, many countries in the Middle East and Northern African countries have to re -adjust and deploy their grain import maps, and some countries have even canceled the food contract ordered from Ukraine.

It is reported that Egypt has been negotiating with food purchase with countries such as India, and India wants to replace India as a key source of food imports. Local media reported that in June to July this year, Egypt purchased more than 1 million tons of wheat from Romania, Bulgaria, France, etc. through bidding and direct procurement to increase its strategic reserves. Egyptian officials revealed that these wheat was enough to meet Egypt's grain needs for at least 7 months.

There are food in your hands and don't panic. At present, the abundant grains of Egypt have canceled the four batches of wheat purchase contracts that have previously ordered in Ukraine. Reuters reported that the Egyptian General Administration of Supply and Commodity, which was responsible for food procurement, purchased five batches of 300,000 tons of wheat from Ukraine at a price of $ 346 to 360 per ton last year. According to the contract, the wheat was originally scheduled to be delivered in February and March this year, but it was never shipped due to the Russian -Ukraine conflict. Four batches of them were waiting for loading, and the other batch stayed at the port of Calinomosk, Ukraine. Now Egypt's simply cancel order has caused Ukraine's food exports to be passive.

Egypt is a microcosm of the Middle East and North African countries. Tunisia, Lebanon, Algeria and other countries, more than half of their grain rely on imports. In the country of imports, wheat in Russia and Ukraine account for about 80 %. Russia and Ukraine conflicts have made these countries look for new imports. At the same time, some experts pointed out that although international food prices have continued to fall, the global market is not optimistic about the subsequent grain trends.

Ma Wenfeng, a senior analyst of Oriental Aeg Agricultural Consulting Co., Ltd., told the Global Times reporter that, traditionally, the main buyers of Ukraine food are the Middle East and African countries, and some European countries also imported food from Ukraine. In recent years, China has also imported a lot of corn, barley and sunflower seeds from Ukraine. Ukraine's large -scale fertile black land is very suitable for agricultural production. In the past ten years, the main food output of Ukraine has doubled. From 2007 to 2019, Ukraine's grain production increased from 2207 kg/hectares to 5068 kg/hectares. The significant increase in yields increased the total output. The total output increased from 28.94 million tons to 74.34 million tons. Three points can have a large amount of food for exports, and these foods can be transported through inland ships and the Black Sea, and the cost is far lower than other exporters. This is the main reason why Wu Grain in the market with greater demand for main grains in the Middle East of North Africa.

The British "Financial Times" reported that in a grocery store in a dilapidated area in central Tunisia, civil servant Kaolla complained that the basic food was repeatedly short, and the prices soared, forcing her to stop buying meat and fruits. "For a while, you can't find flour or coarse wheat flour. Now it is much better, but the supply is very limited." The Russian -Ukraine conflict has so far caused many Middle East and Northern African countries to fall into trouble. The inflation crisis has continued to intensify, and the living standards of the public have continued to decline. Take Tunisia as an example, the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics of Tunisia showed that the country's inflation rate jumped to 8.1%in June, the highest level since October 1991. In June, the country's food prices rose by 9.5%, of which the price of eggs rose the largest increase, reached 20.8%, the consumption oil rose by 20.2%, and the increase in fruits, poultry and grain products increased by more than 10%. ▲

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