Egypt penalizes 35% of bakeries over bread price violations, source says
Egyptian supply inspection authorities have cited 7,000 commercial bakeries, penalizing 35% of the country’s licensed and unlicensed establishments for flouting state-mandated bread weight and price controls set in August, a government official said Wednesday.
Speaking to Al Manassa on condition of anonymity, an official in the supply ministry’s Inspection Directorate said the ministry drafted formal violation reports against noncompliant bakeries ahead of levying financial fines that in some cases reach 1 million Egyptian pounds ($19,000).
The official noted that the highest concentration of offenses took place across Greater Cairo, followed by the governorates of Alexandria, Daqahliya, Kafr El-Sheikh, Qena, and Luxor.
Most detected violations involved vendors selling bread above the official price ceiling, followed by failures to meet required specifications and weight standards, the official added.
Under Decree No. 5 of 2026, issued in early August, the Ministry of Supply set fixed prices for unsubsidized flatbread and fino baguettes. The decree priced an 80-gram round loaf at 2 pounds, a 60-gram loaf at 1.5 pounds, and a 40-gram loaf at 1 pound. The decree also set prices for fino loaves at 2 pounds for a 50-gram loaf, 1.5 pounds for a 40-gram loaf, and 1 pound for a 30-gram loaf.
As wheat and flour prices surged across recent months, driving up baking overheads against the state’s rigid tariff regime, operators of several commercial bakeries skirted the price caps by baking loaves at weights outside the official scale, selling them at margins that secure wider profits.
Flour prices climbed following a contraction in Egypt’s wheat imports, triggered by logistical bottlenecks choking Russian grain flows through the Black Sea. Those disruptions stemmed from truck transit curbs to three export terminals at the ports of Novorossiysk and Taman, alongside mounting drone attacks against maritime transit corridors in the region.
Egypt’s wheat imports tumbled precipitously during July and August, logging approximately 480,000 tons compared to 1.95 million tons over the corresponding period in 2025—a contraction exceeding 75%. Inward shipments dropped again by roughly 76.6% this past September compared to the same month last year, according to an official document previously reviewed by Al Manassa.
Amid swelling public discussion over recent days regarding the inevitability of a new price adjustment for commercial bread, the official maintained that the state is working to prevent price increases at present, specifically across the next two months, by releasing wheat to flour mills and bakeries through the Egyptian Mercantile Exchange.
“We need to get through this year safely and see how the global situation unfolds,” the source said, pointing out that production input costs remain heavily tethered to shifting regional and international dynamics, which will ultimately dictate the trajectory of final retail prices.
The Ministry of Supply will resume wheat auctions on the mercantile exchange next week following an interruption that lasted more than 30 months, seeking to stabilize wholesale markets and cover mill inventories. The move is expected to shave approximately 1,000 pounds ($19) off the price of a ton of flour, Hany Mekky, deputy head of the Bakeries Division, said in an earlier statement to Al Manassa.