Abstract

Objectives: This study aims at minimizing the value of the Kingdom's imports of wheat commodity by determining its optimal economic distribution, and thus reaching the amount of savings that can be achieved in those imports. Methods: This study relied on the linear programming approach to achieve its objectives. This method is considered appropriate for obtaining optimal solutions that involve maximizing or minimizing the objective function under a set of specified constraints. Results: Findings indicate that, under the first model (free model), the optimal distribution is achieved by importing wheat from the Czech Republic and Estonia. In the second model (restricted free model), the optimal sources are the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. Under the third model (stable wheat exporters to the Kingdom), the optimal source is Poland; while in the fourth model (restricted stable exporters), the optimal sources are Germany and Poland. In the fifth model (economic blocks or groupings), the optimal distribution involves imports from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Ukraine, and India. The analysis further reveals that the first and second models yield the highest cost savings in wheat import value, estimated at approximately 15.8% and 14.8%, respectively, of the total import value. Conclusions: The study recommends adopting the optimal economic distribution of wheat imports identified in this research to achieve significant cost reductions.