Al Dahra, ADEX partner to supply wheat to Egypt in $500m deal

Image: WAM/ Al Dahra/ ADEX

Agribusiness firm Al Dahra and Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) have partnered to provide wheat to Egypt in a five-year deal.

Effective from this year, the agreement worth $100m per year, will provide Egypt with a steady supply of imported milling wheat.

Dr Ali Al Moselhy, Egypt’s Minister for Supply and Internal Trade, said: “This agreement solidifies our commitment in establishing long term supply deals with key producers across the world, so that the people of Egypt have access to essential food supplies and strengthening our food grain supply chain buffer to withstand any unexpected shocks in the global markets.

“The low-cost financing package from ADEX helps us procure high quality wheat at the lowest cost financing available, with comfortable payment terms. This is a successful milestone in our mission to ensure food security to the Egyptian people. All three parties have been working hard over the past few months to bring this to fruition.”

Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, director-general of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and chairman of the Exports Executive Committee of the Abu Dhabi Exports Office, said, “This agreement marks a milestone in ADEX’s mission to help UAE businesses expand their global exports and diversify our economy.”

Promoting food security

“Al Dahra works towards sustainably feeding a growing world, and this agreement aligns with our purpose in one of the key markets in the region, Egypt,” said Arnoud van den Berg, group CEO of Al Dahra. “This agreement highlights our commitment to food security in the countries we operate in and complements our efforts from our farms in Egypt.

“Over the past three years, our farms in Egypt have supplied over 180 thousand tonnes of wheat at the prevailing local market price making us the largest local private sector supplier of Egyptian wheat to the General Authority for Supply Commodities,” he added.

Largest private sector producer of wheat and corn in Egypt

Al Dahra already farms 28,000 hectares in Egypt that help sustain the country’s food security by producing staple crops. It is the largest private sector producer of wheat and corn in Egypt in addition to the production of onions, sugar beet, sesame, citrus, sorghum as well as forage for the livestock.

Nearly 85 per cent of all produce from Al Dahra’s Egyptian farms are supplied locally.

Globally, Al Dahra’s production output of grains and oilseeds is approximately 600,000 tonnes.