Egypt is planning to allow imports of short-staple cotton to meet the needs of local spinning and textile factories, a newspaper reported on Thursday, citing the trade minister.
Because of its relative geographic isolation, Egypt over the years has developed strains of high-quality long-staple cotton uncontaminated by cross-breeding from lesser quality strains. Considered among the world’s best, its domestic cotton fetches a premium on world markets.
The trade ministry has agreed with the agriculture ministry to open the door to imports to help local textile plants deal with increases in the price of cotton, Al-Alam Al-Youm reported.
A trade ministry official had no immediate comment on the report.
