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Proposal for adequate grain supplies for at least a month goes before Cabinet

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Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis on Wednesday will submit a proposal before Cabinet providing that Cyprus secures adequate grain supplies for at least a month in view of the war in Ukraine.

This is what Philenews reports, adding that the Minister’s proposal concerns the supply of 36,000 tons of barley and maize – a quantity that covers the needs for animal feed for 30 days.

Ships that can sail in the Republic’s ports have a capacity of up to 20,000 tons so authorities decided to import first a cargo of 20,000 tons followed by a second one of 16,000 tons.

Importers and livestock farmers grapple with sky-high grain prices due to the Ukraine war so short term supplies are a must, the Minister has already argued.

But a real problem of shortages – should the conflict drag on – is unavoidable.

That’s why insiders said  Cyprus must turn to alternative markets for the import of cargo that can not be supplied by private traders such as Romania, Serbia and Hungary.

Private traders called on the government to contact the US market, where it takes 3-5 weeks for shipments to reach Cyprus.

In particular, they asked for the import of cereals from countries where there are health restrictions for their import into the European Union. For countries like the US and Canada there is a risk of importing genetically modified corn.

Also, for countries such as Argentina and Brazil there are restrictions due to pesticide residues.

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