Egypt sets buying price for local rice, maintains export ban

CAIRO: Egypt said on Wednesday it would pay its farmers 2,300-2,400 Egyptian pounds ($259-$270) per tonne for rice during the harvest season that starts this month and continue to ban exports of the grain.

Egypt is planning to buy 2 million tonnes of paddy rice during the harvest and store it in reserve to avoid a repeat of the subsidised rice shortage and price spikes that racked the country over the past year.

The price of local rice jumped over the past year after the government failed to procure local stocks during the harvest. Traders subsequently hoarded supplies and drove up local prices at the expense of impoverished consumers unable to find the staple at subsidised government outlets.

The North African country consumes roughly 3.3 million tonnes of the grain and generally produces a surplus. Despite the surplus, Egypt will continue to ban the export of all types of rice, a policy intended "to save reserves for the local market and help maintain price stability throughout the year," a cabinet statement said.