How does wheat reach Ethiopia's mills?

Through Djibouti. Private traders buy bulk cargoes, discharge them at the SDTV bulk terminal or Doraleh Multipurpose Port and sell smaller lots on to Ethiopian millers, typically against letters of credit; the grain moves inland by truck or on the 759-km railway from Doraleh to Sebeta near Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's roughly 500 mills run at 45 to 50 percent of capacity, and foreign exchange is the constraint, so the importer of record and its bank decide whether a cargo can be worked.

What taxes does imported wheat pay into Ethiopia?

On USDA's April 2026 report, wheat grain pays 5% customs duty, 15% VAT and 3% withholding tax; it is not duty-exempt. Wheat flour pays 25% duty since 2024, which keeps the milling in Ethiopia. Djibouti's own port and transit charges are added at the gateway.

Can a cargo be shipped to Port Sudan now?

Cargoes are moving: Sudan's central bank recorded 1.7 million tonnes of wheat imports in 2025, and about 1.3 million tonnes arrived in the first half of 2026. But Sudan has been at war since April 2023 and Port Sudan was struck by drones for three days in May 2025, so every Sudanese enquiry starts with war-risk insurance, a named and screened receiver, and payment confirmed by an acceptable bank before a ship is nominated.

What specification do these mills buy?

Milling wheat for bread flour, certified at load for protein, moisture, test weight, falling number and foreign matter. The buyer states the protein band it needs, and the certificate of quality issued at the load port goes with the documents. No tender specification is quoted here because none was published for 2025-26; the buyer's own specification governs.

East Africa · Djibouti / Sudan

Milling Wheat CFR Djibouti and Port Sudan: Wheat for Ethiopian and Sudanese Flour Mills

Two Red Sea gateways that feed about 2.8 million tonnes of imported wheat a year to the flour mills of Ethiopia and Sudan

Djibouti is Ethiopia's wheat port. Ethiopia grows about 7 million tonnes of wheat against consumption of 8.2 million, and USDA puts its imports at 1.58 million tonnes in 2024/25 and 1.4 million in both 2025/26 and 2026/27, counting about 330,000 t a year of informal cross-border trade. Of the 1,055,841 t of wheat grain that arrived in 2024/25, Ukraine shipped 162,612 t (15%), Romania 109,593 t (10%), Türkiye 37,056 t and Bulgaria 9,000 t, and Romanian wheat grew in 2025/26, with 185,792 t from October to February. Romania's own returns record 254,060 t shipped to Djibouti in 2025 at about USD 237/t FOB, after 88,849 t in 2024. Private traders buy Black Sea cargoes, discharge them at Djibouti and sell smaller lots on to about 500 Ethiopian mills, typically against letters of credit, and the mills run at 45 to 50 percent of their 10 million tonnes of capacity, short of foreign exchange since well before the birr was floated in July 2024. Imported wheat sold at USD 420/t in Addis Ababa in January 2026, about USD 45 below local grain. Wheat grain pays 5% duty, 15% VAT and 3% withholding tax into Ethiopia; flour pays 25%. At Djibouti the cargo discharges at the SDTV bulk terminal, three berths of 560 m in all with 8,500 t a day of discharge and 29,000 t of wheat storage, or at Doraleh Multipurpose Port, with 15.3 m of water, an 85,000 t grain silo and a rail link to the 759-km electrified line to Addis Ababa.

Sudan's wheat comes in through Port Sudan, where the South Port's six berths have about 13 m of water and one berth carries a 50,000 t grain silo. The war that began in April 2023 cut the trade from 2.7 million tonnes in 2022, but imports recovered to 1.7 million tonnes in 2025 as flour mills restarted, and about 1.3 million tonnes worth USD 381 million arrived in the first half of 2026; FAO puts 2026 cereal import needs at about 2.8 million tonnes, mainly wheat, while warning that money and logistics may limit what Sudan secures. Canada shipped 98,933 t and Romania 130,500 t to Sudan in 2025, and French wheat returned in 2026 for the first time in 18 years. Port Sudan is the seat of the army-aligned government and was struck by drones over three days in May 2025, so war-risk cover and confirmed payment come first on every Sudanese enquiry. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers milling wheat CFR Djibouti and Port Sudan in Supramax and Panamax bulk cargoes, against a load-port certificate of quality covering protein, moisture, test weight and falling number. Send the protein and specification, the quantity, the discharge port and terminal, the importer of record, the end mills, the shipment month and the payment terms with the issuing bank, and the enquiry is screened and worked against them.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices grain and feed bulk freight on LaycanDesk.

The market in figures

Ethiopia wheat imports (USDA, Oct–Sep): 1.58 Mt 2024/25 · 1.4 Mt 2025/26 · 1.4 Mt forecast 2026/27 · production ~7.0 Mt vs consumption 8.2 Mt
Ethiopia grain origins, 2024/25: 1,055,841 t: Ukraine 162,612 t (15%) · Romania 109,593 t (10%) · Türkiye 37,056 t · Bulgaria 9,000 t
Romania's wheat exports, 2025: Djibouti 254,060 t (~USD 237/t FOB) · Sudan 130,500 t · Ethiopia 79,440 t
Sudan wheat imports (Central Bank): 2.7 Mt in 2022 · 1.7 Mt in 2025 (1.8x 2024) · ~1.3 Mt, USD 381 m in H1 2026
Djibouti discharge: SDTV: 3 berths, 560 m, 8,500 t/day, 29,000 t wheat storage · Doraleh: 15.3 m, 85,000 t grain silo, rail to Addis Ababa
Port Sudan: South Port: 6 berths, ~13 m, 50,000 t grain silo · drone strikes May 2025: war risk and payment first
Ethiopia import taxes: Wheat grain 5% duty · 15% VAT · 3% withholding · wheat flour 25% duty

Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.

Questions buyers ask

How does wheat reach Ethiopia's mills?: Through Djibouti. Private traders buy bulk cargoes, discharge them at the SDTV bulk terminal or Doraleh Multipurpose Port and sell smaller lots on to Ethiopian millers, typically against letters of credit; the grain moves inland by truck or on the 759-km railway from Doraleh to Sebeta near Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's roughly 500 mills run at 45 to 50 percent of capacity, and foreign exchange is the constraint, so the importer of record and its bank decide whether a cargo can be worked.
What taxes does imported wheat pay into Ethiopia?: On USDA's April 2026 report, wheat grain pays 5% customs duty, 15% VAT and 3% withholding tax; it is not duty-exempt. Wheat flour pays 25% duty since 2024, which keeps the milling in Ethiopia. Djibouti's own port and transit charges are added at the gateway.
Can a cargo be shipped to Port Sudan now?: Cargoes are moving: Sudan's central bank recorded 1.7 million tonnes of wheat imports in 2025, and about 1.3 million tonnes arrived in the first half of 2026. But Sudan has been at war since April 2023 and Port Sudan was struck by drones for three days in May 2025, so every Sudanese enquiry starts with war-risk insurance, a named and screened receiver, and payment confirmed by an acceptable bank before a ship is nominated.
What specification do these mills buy?: Milling wheat for bread flour, certified at load for protein, moisture, test weight, falling number and foreign matter. The buyer states the protein band it needs, and the certificate of quality issued at the load port goes with the documents. No tender specification is quoted here because none was published for 2025-26; the buyer's own specification governs.