Wheat in the Kingdom

Wheat in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the grains cultivated in the Kingdom. It's a fundamental food commodity. The Kingdom, represented by the General Food Security Authority (GFSA) (formerly the Saudi Grains Organization), aims to ensure food security for its residents and meet the needs of milling companies. this is done by purchasing wheat from local farmers, investing in overseas wheat farms, and importing wheat.

The Kingdom maintains safe wheat stock levels, since the organization increased its storage capacity, making it the largest grain storage capacity in the Middle East. Approximately nine hundred million t were added between 2015 to 2021, with total costs exceeding SAR2.5 billion. The overall storage capacity reached 3.5 million t, distributed over fifteen branches throughout the Kingdom.

In 2020, the Council of Ministers issued a decision assigning the Saudi Grains Organization (now the GFSA) to buy wheat from qualified farmers, if chosen to cultivate wheat in areas not exceeding fifty ha. This arrangement is set for five years, with a maximum of 1.5 million t annually.

In the first year of implementing the decision, the organization bought approximately 202,179 t of wheat from 930 farmers. This figure increased by 90.7 percent the following year to 385,635 t from 1,673 farmers. In 2021, the Saudi government bought approximately 576,000 t from local farmers.

The Kingdom invests in overseas wheat farms. It acquired two agricultural companies in western Ukraine in 2018 and merged them into one named Continental Farms. The total area of these farms is about 195,000 ha, and they are affiliated with the Saudi Agricultural Investment and Livestock Company (SALIC). As a result, in 2020, the Kingdom received its first shipment of 64,000 t of wheat from this investment, followed by several shipments amounting to 355,000 t in 2021 and 720,000 t in 2022.

In 2020, a year marked by disruptions in global supply chains due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kingdom secured its wheat needs by importing three million t of wheat and purchasing around 386,000 t from local production. The grain storage facilities were distributed among fourteen branches under the Saudi Grains Organization at that time, as well as four milling companies. The organization owns several ports in the Kingdom to receive imported wheat, with unloading capacities of up to 12,000 t per day in the ports of Yanbu, Jeddah Islamic Port, and Jazan. Meanwhile, the unloading capacity in King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam is 10,000 t per day.

Wheat represented 1.8 percent of the Kingdom's share of global imports, with Poland being the largest supplier at 47 percent, followed by Latvia at 14 percent, then Germany and Estonia at 9 percent, and Lithuania at 8 percent.

Many government entities and institutions collaborated to secure food supplies. SALIC secured the import of 64,000 t from its investments in Ukraine. The Saudi Grains Organization and the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture encouraged Saudi foreign investments and increased local production. Wheat was purchased from 1,673 local farms through the "Mahsoli Platform" operated by the Saudi Grains Organization (currently the GFSA). The net amount of wheat received was 385,635 t. Al-Jawf Province was the top producer of local wheat, yielding approximately 99,710 t, followed by al-Qassim Province with 96,101 t, Tabuk Province with 93,930 t, Hail Province with 52,348 t, Wadi al-Dawasir Governorate with 23,770 t, Riyadh with 10,782 t, al-Kharj Governorate with 8,367 t, and al-Ahsa Governorate with 627 t.

Milling companies are one of the new sectors contributing to the Kingdom's economy. The government aims to liberalize its assets and ownership in favor of the private sector and attract foreign investments in the field. In preparation for selling the four milling companies, the Saudi Grains Organization completed the restructuring stages and asset separation and implemented an independent operational program in 2017.

The Saudi Grains Organization (currently the GFSA) sold its four companies in two phases to the private sector. The first phase involved the sale of the first and third companies in 2020 for about SAR2.8 billion. The second phase included the sale of the second and fourth companies in 2021 for SAR3 billion.

Milling companies in the Kingdom produce flour in various sizes, including one kg, two kg, five kg, ten kg, and forty-five kg. They offer various types, such as bran flour, premium bran with 95 percent extraction, bakery flour with 80 percent extraction, and premium flour with 70 percent extraction. They also produce other derivatives in various weights like semolina (al-Harees), groats (al-Jareesh), wheat germ, fine bran, and flaked wheat.

Many traditional dishes in Saudi cuisine rely on wheat. Flour, a wheat product, is a primary ingredient in dishes like al-Marqooq, al-Qursaan, al-Asidah, and al-Khobzah al-Janobiah. Saudis have other names for wheat, including al-Aysh, al-Bur, and al-Henttah.