Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour has issued a decision to stop exporting rice beginning in September.
Abdel Nour explained in a statement that the decision comes to meet the domestic requirements for rice. According to reports from Ministry of Agriculture, rice production this year is 2.7m tonnes, and rice consumption is 3.6m tonnes.
In 2013, the decision to export rice was a cause for disagreement, as Abdel Nour had issued a decision in November 2013, announcing that the government plans to export 100,000 tonnes of rice between mid-November 2013 and January 2014.
Former minister of supply Mohamed Abu Shady, meanwhile, made a contradictory announcement to Abdel Nour’s, saying that rice exports would be halted “until all ration needs of the grain are met”.
The Rice Division in the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) had wanted at that time to export rice to make profits.
