Browse Data and Analysis

Despite recent economic headwinds, Egypt’s food ingredient market is experiencing modest growth driven by increasing demand for processed and packaged foods.

Following the challenging corn crop in the 2024/25 marketing year due to severe drought conditions, Zimbabwe's corn production is projected to more than double in the 2025/26 marketing year, benefiting from more favorable weather conditions.

FAS Cairo (Post) forecasts Egyptian sugar production in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 (October-September) to rise to 3.18 million metric tons (MMT). This increase is driven by industrial demand and higher prices for sugar beets, incentivizing many farmers to plant more beets.

FAS Managua forecasts a strong coffee harvest of 2.58 million 60-kilogram bags for MY 2025/26. This optimistic outlook is attributed to increased agriculture input applications (mainly fertilizers) due to high coffee prices and expectations for a more balanced rainy season.

FAS/Managua projects MY 2025/26 sugar production to reach 840,000 metric tons, up ten percent from MY 2024/25, assuming a more balanced rainy season and an increase in sugarcane plantations.

FAS/Pretoria’s Sugar annual report provides information on the production, supply, and distribution of sugar in Zimbabwe for marketing year (MY) 2023/24, MY 2024/25, and MY 2025/26.

FAS/Cairo (Post) forecasts Egypt’s soybean imports in marketing year (MY) 2025/26 (October – September) to increase by 5.0 percent from the previous marketing driven by a flexible exchange rate, the availability of forex and a more positive outlook for the livestock sectors.

While small local grocers dominate the Egyptian retail market, representing more than 50 percent of sales by value, convenience and price will continue to drive the majority of Egyptian consumer buying decisions, presenting growth opportunities across all retail channels.

Post forecasts Egypt’s MY 2025/26 cotton production at 320,000 bales, down 25 percent from the previous season due to a significant decrease in area harvested.

Egypt’s wheat imports for marketing year 2025/26 are estimated at 13.0 million metric tons, unchanged from Post’s estimate in the previous marketing year which was revised upward by 4 percent due to the availability of forex contributing to an increase in imports.

On March 12, 2025, the Government of Egypt (GoE) filed a ninth addendum to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) – G/TBT/N/EGY/313/Add.9 – informing interested parties that it was excluding imports of milk and dairy products from the scope of its Halal certification requirements.

Egypt is the leading aquaculture producer in Africa, producing approximately two MMT of fish annually. Aquaculture accounts for roughly 80 percent of Egypt’s fish production, primarily via private farms.