afrol News, 12 June - The Egyptian authorities have said the country has enough wheat reserves to last for more than six months, local media has reported.

Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat consumer said the recent seizure of imported wheat from Russian which did not meet the country’s standards, have not affected consumption in the north Africa state.

In May, Egyptian authorities quarantined a shipment of 52,501 metric tons of Russian wheat imported by Egyptian Traders Co. saying it did not meet the local specification for imported grains. The wheat reportedly has weed seeds and dead insects in it, authorities accused.

The officials said the country has reserves of more than 3.5 million tonnes of fit-for-use wheat in addition to more than 3 million tonnes of procured local wheat according local reports.

The Egyptian government has launched a criminal investigation into whether Egyptian Traders Co, one of the country's largest wheat traders had knowingly imported the Russian wheat that did not meet Egyptian specifications.

Local reports have also pointed out that the investigators are now looking into whether documents submitted by Egyptian Traders Co. about the imported wheat were forged.

Egypt imports around eight million metric tons per year, of which more than half of that comes from Russia.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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