Onion prices in particular became the talk of the street, after the price of a kilo reached from 25 to 35 pounds (the dollar is equivalent to approximately 31 pounds according to the official price, while it reaches 40 pounds in the parallel market), after it was only about five pounds a year ago specifically. .
Other types of vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumbers, also witnessed increases in different percentages.
The Egyptian government is seeking to control the markets and take the necessary measures to control prices, the latest of which was the decision last Wednesday to stop the export of onions for a period of three months ending at the end of this year, 2023.
In the same context, the media advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture, Ahmed Ibrahim, confirmed in a statement that the state is in the process of making other similar decisions related to strategically important goods by stopping their export in the event of monopolistic practices or attempts by some merchants to store them and manipulate prices.
The total Egyptian exports of agricultural products from the beginning of January during the current year until July witnessed an increase of 717 thousand and 896 tons over the same period last year, which recorded 3 million and 936 thousand tons, according to what the Egyptian Minister of Agriculture announced earlier.
Onions, tomatoes, and potatoes are usually included in most Egyptians’ meals, and they are considered among the cheapest vegetables in the country, especially since Egypt is self-sufficient in onions, as it produces more than 3 million tons annually and consumes about two million tons, so that it has a surplus of more than one million tons annually. This year, 380 thousand tons were exported, according to data mentioned by Dr. Ali Khalil, Director of the Field Crops Research Institute at the Ministry of Agriculture, in television statements.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt annually grows about eight million tons of tomatoes, on an area of 400,000 acres, of which 2.1 percent of the crop is exported, amounting to about 130,000 tons.
According to Mr. Al-Qasir, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt’s production this year for the first time has reached 6.5 million tons of fresh potatoes, despite the circumstances of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, according to his statements during the beginning of the wheat harvest season and the potato production plant in East Owainat, New Valley Governorate, last May, Pointing out that the Egyptian state exports about 800 thousand tons of potatoes every year.
Vegetable prices
Most of the prices of vegetables in wholesale markets increased by up to 100 percent during the same month, compared to what they were last year in the same month, and onions are the type that rose the most, as they rose almost five-fold.
The latest update in vegetable prices came according to the official website of the Obour Market (which is the wholesale market in Egypt) as follows:
The price of a kilo of onions ranged between 15 and 21 pounds (for wholesale).
The price of a kilo of tomatoes reached between 10 and 15 pounds.
The price of potatoes ranges between 8.5 pounds and 12.5 pounds per kilo.
The price of a kilo of onions in the Egyptian market (for the consumer) reached about 35 pounds (before the price moved down by about five pounds after the decision to stop exports), while the price of a kilo of tomatoes reached 25 pounds, while a kilo of potatoes recorded about 12 to 15 pounds per kilo.
Last year at this same time, prices were relatively stable, as follows:
The price of a kilo of onions is between 4 and 5 pounds.
The price of a kilo of tomatoes was between 3 and 5 pounds
Potato prices ranged between 6 and 8 pounds per kilo, and when their price rose, they reached 12 pounds.
Crazy rise in prices
For his part, the head of the Farmers Syndicate in Egypt, Hussein Abu Saddam, confirmed in exclusive statements to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website that the basic vegetables, led by “tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers and onions,” are witnessing a crazy rise in prices that the country has never witnessed before, explaining that their prices have risen more than last year by 50 percent, and the price of onions exceeded six times that of last year.
The head of the Farmers Syndicate attributed this unprecedented rise in vegetable prices to several factors, as follows:
-The El Nino phenomenon, during which the country witnessed an intense heat wave in the months of June and July, which is the timing of the growth of some vegetables and crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, as a result of which their growth stopped and the flowers dropped, and thus productivity decreased.
-A large number of farmers reduced the cultivated areas, and thus productivity decreased, after their losses during previous years.
The price of the Egyptian pound declined against foreign currencies, which affected the prices of all commodities and increased inflation.
Regarding the jump witnessed in onion prices, the head of the Farmers Syndicate explained that this year witnessed the export of larger quantities of onions than any previous year, which affected the supply, noting that some of the countries exporting them in Europe were subjected to a drought that spoiled their crops, and Arab countries relied on imports from Egypt is an alternative to the European market in light of the decrease in its cultivated area.
He pointed out that a kilo of onions was sold on agricultural land last year for one pound, and in the retail market for five pounds, while now it is sold on the ground for six pounds and in the market it has reached thirty pounds.
He pointed out that two months ago he had quickly appealed to the government to stop exporting onions, describing its recent response as “useless” because it came late with the end of the export season approaching, which begins in August and ends in September, noting that the only positive return from this decision is stopping the rise in the price of onions. A kilo of onions, which was expected to reach 60 pounds.
He stated that the decrease in the price of onions will occur with the start of the new season next December, expecting that its price will witness a gradual decrease over the next three months and that this decrease will not exceed five pounds, due to merchants putting their stock of onions on the markets that they intended to export after the decision to stop exporting.
As for tomatoes, he expected their price to decline with the new harvest of the crop next November, noting that their price also witnessed these fluctuations for the same reasons, most notably the decrease in the cultivated area. An area of 500,000 acres was cultivated throughout the year, and this year it witnessed a decrease of 50,000 acres. Some also export dried tomatoes, which affects the quantity supplied.
Regarding potatoes, he explained that their production was only affected by the rise in temperature as a result of the El Nino phenomenon, but there are specific areas that are cultivated for export, and it is expected that their price will decline during the same period.
Regarding reaching a solution to this crisis and preventing it from recurring in the future, the head of the Farmers’ Syndicate put forward several proposals, including:
-Implementing the Contract Farming Law on basic crops, by contracting between companies and farmers at a prior price.
Returning to the agricultural cycle in some crops, as happened with the wheat crop this year, by reducing random cultivation.
– Resorting to reducing the prices of agricultural supplies as much as necessary, by accelerating the government’s implementation of the national vegetable seed project, so that local seeds are available at a reduced price.
-Increasing the share of subsidized fertilizers for farmers.
– Participation of all parties in determining the quantities that will be exported, and that this decision should not be limited to the Ministry of Supply or the business sector only, provided that this decision is taken through a committee formed by the relevant ministries to determine the possibility of exporting or not, to avoid merchants and companies rushing to export in order to obtain the dollar and the occurrence of… Scarcity of vegetables in the market.
Reducing intermediary links by creating central markets, which helps reduce merchants who raise prices randomly, and thus reduces the price for the consumer.
-Trend to processed or frozen alternatives to vegetables
– Rationalizing citizens’ consumption and stopping the export of products or crops that the country needs locally.
Last August, the country’s annual inflation rate jumped higher than expected, to an unprecedented level of 37.4 percent, compared to 36.5 percent in July. This was driven by the significant increase in food prices, which amounted to 71.4 percent on an annual basis, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.
Prices rose 1.6 percent in August on a monthly basis, down from 1.9 percent in July and 2.08 percent in June, according to data from the agency.
Data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics showed that the prices of food and beverages rose by 71.9 percent on an annual basis, with the prices of meat and poultry increasing by 97 percent, vegetables by 98.4 percent, and fish and seafood by 86 percent. Tobacco prices also increased by 57.6 percent.
According to the central bank, core inflation, which excludes volatile goods such as food and fuel, fell slightly to 40.4 percent from 40.7 percent in July and 41 percent in June.
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