Brexit Has U.K. Wheat Industry Wooing World's Biggest Buyer

(Bloomberg) -- Brexit is leading the U.K. wheat industry to make some new friends.

The European Union is currently the top destination for U.K. wheat, but with market access uncertain in the aftermath of Brexit, the nation is turning on the charm for Egypt, the world’s largest buyer.

A trade delegation will arrive in Cairo on Wednesday to showcase U.K. flour to millers and bakers from four private and three government-controlled Egyptian companies, which together control 70 to 80 percent of Egypt’s wheat imports, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board said in a statement.

The visit is aimed at demonstrating U.K. flour for baked goods that are in short supply in Egypt, it said.

“In a post-Brexit environment, the ability to be fleet of foot when export opportunities arise is key,” Phil Hadley, AHDB’s international market development director, said in the statement.

Egypt is “a significant opportunity for British agriculture, which typically produces a surplus of wheat and exports over 80 percent of this to the European Union,” AHDB said.

The North African country typically needs 11 million metric tons of wheat annually and hasn’t imported U.K. grain. About 70 percent of imports are from Russia and other Black Sea countries, and rest comes from France, Germany, Australia and U.S., AHDB said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Manisha Jha in London at mjha13@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill