According to a statement published on Saturday by exchange chairman Ibrahim Ashmawy, the Egyptian state grains buyer started selling yellow maize on Egypt’s newly constituted commodities market on Thursday.
Egypt’s official buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), started giving atypical maize contracts early this year in response to a feed scarcity that has affected small producers and even forced some farmers to murder chicks.
According to Supply Minister Ali Moselhy, corn would be made accessible to local farmers via the exchange.
The almost 50% decrease in the Egyptian pound against the dollar has limited imports and contributed to official headline inflation of 31.9% in February, the highest rate in five and a half years. Egypt is a major importer of basic commodities.
The annual inflation rate for urban Egyptian consumers hit 32.7% in March, barely shy of a record high.
According to the announcement, GASC has sold around 570,000 tonnes of wheat to struggling mills since the exchange’s launch in November.
