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Egypt: Wheat Reserves are Sufficient After Russia's Withdrawal from Grain Agreement

The Egyptian government meeting (Egyptian cabinet)
The Egyptian government meeting (Egyptian cabinet)
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Egypt: Wheat Reserves are Sufficient After Russia's Withdrawal from Grain Agreement

The Egyptian government meeting (Egyptian cabinet)
The Egyptian government meeting (Egyptian cabinet)

The Egyptian government has reassured citizens about the wheat reserves after Russia suspended the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Ali al-Mosilhy, said Egypt's strategic wheat reserves are sufficient for five months of consumption.

Moselhi criticized Russia's withdrawal from the UN grain-export deal, saying Egypt was not pleased.

He explained that transport, logistics, and cargo insurance are the most affected sectors.

The Minister was speaking on the sidelines of the 16th session of the General Assembly of the intra-Africa metrology system (AFRIMETS).

He admitted the withdrawal would impact Egypt and other African countries, especially since many states had difficulty importing wheat.

Mosilhy expected an 8-percent global hike in the price of a ton of wheat, pointing out that the Egyptian government would bear any price differences and it would not affect the citizen.

He pointed out that Egypt started signing agreements with India to import wheat and sugar, explaining that Egypt was keen on having multiple wheat sources, including France, Germany, Romania, US, and Bulgaria.

The Minister noted that the local wheat supply amounted to 3.8 million tons.

Meanwhile, agricultural expert Ashraf Kamal believes maintaining a safe strategic wheat stock is essential.

Kamal told Asharq Al-Awsat that wheat stocks have declined globally after the supply chain and Russian-Ukrainian war crises.

Russia and Ukraine represent about 30 percent of global grain exports.

He explained that the state must follow two main paths to ensure wheat strategic reserve: diversifying the supply sources and wheat origins and increasing self-sufficiency.

Following presidential directives, the Egyptian state is moving to provide remunerative wheat prices by increasing the cost of last year's cultivated ardeb.

The state also introduced new areas planted with wheat, said the expert, pointing out that the Ministry of Supply aimed to purchase more than 4 million tons of grain from Egyptian farmers this season.

Kamal asserted that the government must continue supporting farmers, increasing the state's purchase prices and announcing it well before the planting season.

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US Troops Need to Stay in Syria to Counter ISIS, Austin Says

FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
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US Troops Need to Stay in Syria to Counter ISIS, Austin Says

FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
FILE - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin makes a speech at Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

The US needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the ISIS group from reconstituting as a major threat following the ouster of Bashar Assad's government, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press.
American forces are still needed there, particularly to ensure the security of detention camps holding tens of thousands of former ISIS fighters and family members, Austin said Wednesday in one of his final interviews before he leaves office.
According to estimates, there are as many as 8,000-10,000 ISIS fighters in the camps, and at least 2,000 of them are considered to be very dangerous.
If Syria is left unprotected, “I think ISIS fighters would enter back into the mainstream,” Austin said at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he traveled to discuss military aid for Ukraine with about 50 partner nations.
“I think that we still have some work to do in terms of keeping a foot on the throat of ISIS," he said.
President-elect Donald Trump tried to withdraw all forces from Syria in 2018 during his first term, which prompted the resignation of former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. As the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, advanced against Assad last month, Trump posted on social media that the US military needed to stay out of the conflict.
The US has about 2,000 troops in Syria to counter ISIS, up significantly from the 900 forces that officials said for years was the total number there. They were sent in 2015 after the militant group had conquered a large swath of Syria.
The continued presence of US troops was put into question after a lightning insurgency ousted Assad on Dec. 8, ending his family’s decades long rule.
US forces have worked with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on operations against ISIS, providing cover for the group that Türkiye considers an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it identifies as a terror organization.
The Syrian transitional government is still taking shape, and uncertainty remains on what that will mean going forward.
The SDF “have been good partners. At some point, the SDF may very well be absorbed into the Syrian military and then Syria would own all the (ISIS detention) camps and hopefully keep control of them,” Austin said. "But for now I think we have to protect our interests there.”