The agreements align with Egypt's supply and internal trade ministry's strategy to enhance its stocks of staple commodities, GASC said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The purchased quantities include 50,000 tons of Bulgarian wheat, 60,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat, 180,000 tons of Russian wheat, and 180,000 tons of Romanian wheat.

In April, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed that Egypt's banking system stands fully ready to secure the foreign currency necessary to increase the strategic reserves of essential commodities.

In May, Egypt raised the price of subsidized bread loaf to 20 piastres, up from 5 piastres, marking the first increase in the cost of the staple in three decades.

"The price of subsidized bread has not been raised for over 30 years, even though its cost to the state has multiplied many times during that period," Madbouly said at the time.

Egypt’s total consumption of wheat amounts to around 18 million tons annually, with nearly half of wheat consumption going to producing subsidised bread for around 70 million beneficiaries.

In 2024, Egypt needs 7.7 million tons of wheat to produce 93.5 billion bread loaves, the cabinet said in a report.

Egypt, a major wheat importer to meet local consumption, increased its wheat imports by over 14.5 percent to 11 million tons in 2023 compared to 9.6 million tons in 2022, Deputy Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ibrahim Ashmawy said in January.

The country heavily has relied on the Black Sea corridor for over 80 percent of its wheat imports. However, disruptions in supply chains due to the Russia-Ukraine war and foreign currency shortages have prompted the government to incentivise farmers to supply their wheat and diversify its importing sources.

In March, the cabinet announced increasing the local wheat procurement price for local farmers by 25 percent, from EGP 1,600 to EGP 2,000 per ardeb.

Egypt's governorates started receiving local wheat from farmers in April, aiming to collect 3.5 million tons of the staple crop during the 2024 wheat supply season.

In the 2023 season, wheat collection stood at 3.8 million tons.