Egypt’s rice export council said the Trade and Industry Ministry’s recent decision to open the door for chaffed rice exports for six months leaves no excuse for raising the price of local crop.
Mostafa al-Naggary, head of the rice division at the Agricultural Export Council, said permitting exports will mobilize the sale of rice reserves, currently at 1.2 million tons, adding that there is now no need to raise local prices.
Naggary told Al-Masry Al-Youm that any trader involved in monopolistic practices related to the rice crop will be confronted.
Despite the fall in world grain prices by 20 percent, Naggary said the Egyptian market still enjoys the advantage of proximity to neighboring markets importing the crop.
Asked about the predicted amount of rice exports, Naggary set it at 40,000 tons monthly, totaling nearly 450,000 tons by the end of the planned period.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
