India to send first wheat cargo to Egypt

India is scheduled to ship its first wheat cargo to Egypt, following the latter's phytosanitary approval of India-origin crop earlier in April.

Around 55,000t of Indian wheat is due to be loaded by trading firm Meera International at Kandla port for shipment to Egypt, line-up data show. The Mana is expected to arrive at Kandla on 29 April, with the shipment date yet to be announced.

The shipment comes after Egypt's agriculture ministry authorised wheat imports from India, as it seeks to replace Black Sea supply, which has seen disruptions since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Egypt's lower wheat purchases this year have left the country more exposed to Black Sea supply disruptions than the rest of the Middle East and north Africa region.

India's bumper wheat output has pressured prices, which have been the most competitive internationally since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. This brought the country's wheat exports to a record 8.5mn t last marketing season (April 2021-March 2022). Exports are forecast to rise to 10mn t in 2022-23, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service.

India has already exported close to 950,000t of wheat in April, with another 180,000t scheduled to be shipped later this month and including other rare destinations such as Israel and Mozambique. An additional 435,500t is in the line-ups for arrival at Indian ports at the end of April, for shipment at an unannounced date.

By Bilal Muftuoglu