Phobia of green spikes.. Arab governments between the flames of war and the struggle for a loaf of living “investigation”

Between the bombing scenes and the politicians' calls for help in the stricken country, Ukraine; Asking for support, the most prominent feature of the raging war between Russia and its neighbor Ukraine has emerged since the dawn of last Thursday and has not ended until now.

While the strategic analysts who talked more and more about the outcome of this crisis and the difficult challenges that both countries are going through, a number of officials from other countries were in another challenge that was no less important than what is happening on the battlefield. It is a journey in search of the sustenance of their peoples from the seeds of wheat, after the existing war conditions prevented them from importing it from the two countries of the dispute. Their primary destination is to import.

Ukraine, which is located in eastern Europe and bordered by Russia to the east, is one of the most important wheat exporters in the world; As its exports constitute 23% of world trade during the years 2021-2022, according to what the US Department of Agriculture announced, these exports were affected after Moscow announced the launch of a military campaign against Ukraine, which led to a rise in wheat prices globally, by 7% on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, while Wheat futures in Europe rose 6%, according to Bloomberg.

The war currently raging, the fate of which has not yet been known, has transcended the geographical area of ​​the two conflict countries and its well-known form of bombing and scenes of destruction, extending to the lives of citizens in some Arab countries; Including Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and others. Over the past decades, these countries used to meet the requirements of their peoples of food grains from Russia and Ukraine, with rates as high as 70%; What caused them a threat to their usual basic power, "a loaf of bread", so that these countries began a journey to search for other solutions that would provide them with something to eat.

“Lebanon’s wheat reserves are sufficient for a month at most.” With this plea, Amin Salam, the Lebanese Minister of Economy, described in late February the crisis his country was going through. As it imports 60% of its Ukrainian wheat needs; In light of the current confusion in the global wheat market, amid fears of the end of the strategic stockpile, without reaching any solutions, adding that the government is currently seeking to conclude import agreements from various countries, including the United States, India, France and some other European countries. .

40 or 50 thousand tons of wheat per month is what Lebanon needs to cover the needs of the local market, but its storage capabilities do not exceed one or two months at most, because the quantities are stored in the mills directly; Due to the lack of a reserve stock, due to the destruction of the wheat silos in Beirut seaport as a result of the devastating explosion that occurred on August 4, 2020, so importing wheat contributes to the stability of the price of bread, and if there is an increase in costs as a result of the rise in oil prices, the Banque du Liban will announce His inability to support or decide to support only small amounts, according to what the minister said.

Lebanon's crisis, which is the fear of a shortage of wheat; The same crisis that Arab governments fear; As a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which the American “Foreign Policy” magazine warned of last January, saying that the war may cause a food crisis that threatens the world, especially in Africa and Asia, in addition to the increase in prices, as Ukraine represents the food basket of Europe, Because it contains the most fertile lands, specifically the eastern regions, which possess the largest share of the most productive lands, and the growth of its agricultural exports, such as grains and vegetable oils.

What happened in Lebanon happened in Libya, which was affected by the crisis, where the Libyan markets witnessed a sharp rise in the prices of wheat and flour as a result of being affected by the war, bringing the price of a kantar of flour to 275 dinars, after its price was 210 dinars before the crisis, with expectations of an increase much more than this limit.

Libya imports approximately 650,000 tons of Russian and Ukrainian wheat, and this is equivalent to nearly half of what the country needs, whose infrastructure does not allow it to store huge quantities of wheat, and the state needs to build more silos to store what is sufficient for the country.

According to figures and statistics, Arab countries obtain 25% of global wheat exports, relying on Russian and Ukrainian wheat, which have a share of more than a quarter of the amount of wheat exported to the world, according to the Economic Observatory (OEC), and Egypt comes on the list of these countries, followed by Morocco, which depends on Russia for 10.5%, and Ukraine on 19.5%, while Sudan depends on Russian wheat by only 46%, and Yemen gets 31% of Russian wheat, and 6.8% from Ukraine, while Tunisia gets half of its wheat imports. The Ukrainians, which became unavailable to them after the war, compared that crisis to the dire conditions of the Corona virus.

The epidemic that surprised the world in late 2019, imposed difficult economic conditions; It created challenges that did not exist as a result of the precautionary measures, following the outbreak of the epidemic, which led to the disruption of supply chains for long periods in many countries, bringing the price of a ton of wheat at the time to $367, according to Dr. Ibrahim Ashmawi, Assistant Minister of Supply, in televised statements, to come The major disaster is the war between Russia and Ukraine, which increased the burden, especially since these two countries are among the world's largest exporters of wheat, and the interruption of supply leads to the risk of famine.

“The war led to an increase in world wheat prices,” Ashmawi says; To increase this load after its outbreak coincided with the month of Ramadan, in which the volume of consumption increases by 50%, according to Abdel Moneim Khalil, Head of the Internal Trade Sector at the Ministry of Supply. And the Minister of Supply, the necessity of providing all goods in all outlets of Welcome Ramadan and consumer complexes, which number up to 1,350 branches, at affordable prices for citizens, and coordinating with all governorates to establish equipment and infrastructure for food fairs, while organizing permanent campaigns; For periodic follow-up, to ensure that exhibitors adhere to the established and announced prices.

Egypt, which is the largest wheat importer in the world, accounted for 10.6% of total global exports at $4.67 billion in 2019, and imports 70% of its Russian and Ukrainian wheat needs, amounting to 13 million tons annually, in addition to being the first in the world to import corn from Ukraine. during the 2020-2021 agricultural season; It is the safest country than other countries suffering from war damage, as it has a reserve stock that suffices for 4 and a half months, according to what Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly said on February 16; In response to a journalist's question about the political and military dispute between Russia and Ukraine, and its impact on Egypt's wheat imports.

The Prime Minister added that before the end of this period, the local wheat season will begin so that the local supplies we receive will be completed by motivating farmers, so that our wheat reserves will suffice us for the end of the year, before he follows up on “the position of wheat stocks on a daily basis with the Minister of Supply,” expressing his wishes for an end to the crisis between Russia and Ukraine. And not to develop into other dimensions.

Ambassador Nader Saad, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said that in the event that the period approaches and the stock runs out, new countries will be considered from which wheat can be imported, explaining that the government is studying everything, adding that Egypt imports wheat from 16 approved countries, and in the event of a new matter between Russia and Ukraine The other 14 will be used.

The Arab countries’ dependence on Russian and Ukrainian wheat is due to the moderation of prices and the quantities, specifications and offers that are offered compared to other countries, such as America, whose cost and high prices caused the American Wheat Corporation, which is responsible for contracts, to close its office in Cairo after losing the Egyptian market in light of fierce competition. with other countries; For decades, the United States of America remained the first supplier of grain to Egypt, with about 818 million pounds in 2014, this number decreased to 698 million pounds in 2015, then 6 thousand dollars recently, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.

Wheat and the importance it represents as it is the most important main food item in Egypt, and the difficult challenges in importing it, prompted the Egyptian state to search for any ways and solutions that provide it with what it needs, and to restore its leadership after it was the destination of a number of different peoples and tribes who came to Egypt in the past after the name was associated with the name Egyptians in the harvest season; This was demonstrated by the drawings in the Thebes tombs in Luxor Governorate, so that the Romans used to call Egypt the “granary of the world”; Because its wheat and its goodness fed the whole world at the time, and every city had a shrine to preserve its yields and benefit from them in a scientific manner since 7 thousand years ago.

The granaries found in one of the temples, which were built with domes of mud, are considered among the most famous granaries in Egypt and the ancient world, and they continued to function for 1500 years until the Roman conquest of Egypt, when one silo was sufficient to feed all of Egypt.

These things prompted the Egyptian state to implement hundreds of projects related to the reclamation of agricultural land, and the establishment of grain silos in all governorates, which are working to protect it from damage with the latest storage technology systems in the world, in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, according to what Dr. Ali El-Moselhy, Minister of Supply, late May 2021, during a visit to the Benha silos on the Cairo-Alexandria agricultural road, in the presence of the Governor of Qalyubia, and the head of the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage.

Among those projects are the Benha silos affiliated with the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos, one of the national silos projects that the President directed to establish in order to preserve the country’s strategic stockpile and reduce the wastage rate to zero, and it is located on an area of ​​16,350 square meters. The Benha silos consist of 12 storage cells, each cell has a capacity of 5,000 tons, with a total storage capacity of 60,000 tons of wheat.

The objective of establishing these silos is to preserve wheat and produce a well-supported loaf of bread for the citizen, as these silos are equipped with modern technological means that enable the decision maker to know the entry and exit of the quantities of single wheat, its type, weight, degree of cleanliness and density, and the supplier by monitoring the electronic incoming and outgoing to the mills, in addition to a modern ventilation system to preserve wheat.

This step comes in line with the state’s plan for governance and mechanization of services. The Benha Silo is piloting a new system to connect the silos with the commodity exchange. The process of supplying local and imported wheat, as well as disbursing those wheat to mills, will be done with ease.

Burj Al Arab Silos Complex

It is one of the largest grain storage silos in Egypt, with a storage capacity of 90,000 tons. The silo receives 200 tons per hour. The project consists of 18 cells, each with a capacity of 5 thousand tons, and they are linked by a group of upper and lower conveyor belts. The movement of wheat is controlled from Through plc control panel.

The National Silos Project

Among the national projects that the state paid special attention to, and it includes 50 silos for storing wheat and grains that are being implemented and established in 17 governorates, with a storage capacity of 1.5 million tons, namely: “Giza, Dakahlia, North Sinai, Gharbia, Menoufia, Sharqia, Beheira.” Alexandria, Qena, New Valley, Qalyubia, Beni Suef, Minya, Fayoum, Aswan.

modern silos of egypt

The state has established a modern system for storing, handling and maintaining wheat grains at the level of the Republic and establishing a group of silos according to the latest systems and specifications, the most prominent of which are:

Grain silos in Khanka area

The grain silos project in the Khanka area in Qalyubia is one of the giant strategic projects, which is considered the largest in Egypt. The project consists of 18 silos, with a total capacity of 90,000 tons, and at a total cost of 300 million pounds, and each one accommodates 5,000 tons of wheat. It also includes a control unit. Completely electronic to manage it, without any human intervention in the loading and unloading system, and construction work was completed in April 2019.

The state has made new expansions in port silos to reach a capacity of 7 million tons to 12 million tons annually; Notable among them:

Damietta Silo

The new Damietta silo is the largest silo in the ports of Egypt and the Middle East. Work began after it was developed in March 2018, with a capacity of 70,000 tons and connected to the old silo, which accommodates 120,000 tons per session.

The Alexandria silo is considered the second largest silo, which was built in the Amreya port with a capacity of 60,000 tons. It can discharge 14,000 tons per day. The possibility of linking it to Safaga Port is being studied, and the quantity transported by trains during 2018 reached 321,000 tons.

grain storage silos suez canal

The project of grain storage silos east of the Suez Canal is the first of its kind to be held in the region and near the development projects of the axis of the Suez Canal region, and it includes 12 silos with a storage capacity of 5 thousand tons. meters, and its cost is about 112 million pounds.

Since 2017, the state has implemented one of the most important strategic projects related to food security, so that the Suez Governorate today has the ability to store tens of thousands of tons of wheat, after operating the Ataka silos station, which includes 12 cells, each of which accommodates 5,000 tons of wheat and grains with a total of 60,000 tons. , at a cost of 130 million pounds.

Completely eradicate the earthen barn

After permanently avoiding work in soil affairs, the Menoufia governorate witnessed a major boom in the establishment of a number of silos, which had the greatest impact in maintaining the commodity stock for the wheat crop. The governorate established 3 silos, the first with a capacity of 30 thousand tons, the second with a capacity of 30 thousand tons, and the third with 60 thousand tons. In addition to the presence of 7 hangars with a capacity of 18,000 tons, as well as cement shacks with a capacity of 7,000 tons.