Jordan requests import of 20,000 tons of rice as exception to Egypt ban

Jordan’s Ministry of Industry and Trade submitted a formal request to the Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade last week to allow the import of 20,000 tons of Egyptian rice to Jordan as an exception to the ban on rice exports, said Issa Haider Murad, chairman of the Amman Chamber of Commerce.

“We have asked Egypt also to provide various agricultural products, supply commodities and fruits in order to compensate for the shortfall that Jordan witnessed in these categories following the deterioration of commercial traffic with Syria, as well as Jordan accommodates a large number of Syrian refugees, Palestinians and Egyptian workers,” he said.

Jordan imports a type of medium grain rice similar to Egypt’s products from a number of places including the United States, Spain and Italy, although the Egyptian variety is cheaper. Jordan imports other types of rice from Thailand and Pakistan, and the nation’s rice imports reach up to 80,000-100,000 tons per year.

Egypt consumes approximately 2.5m tons of white rice per year while it produces approximately 3.5m tons, translating into a surplus of up to 1m tons per year. Several years ago, the government began scaling back cultivation to cut water consumption, imposing a ban on exports in 2008.

Jordan was one of the first countries to declare its support for the roadmap announced by former defense minister and army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on 3 July last year, following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt negotiations over resumption of rice exports to begin within next two weeks

Discussions with the Ministry of Supply over resuming rice exports will commence this week or next week, with the aim of reaching an agreement on the “best” possible solution to export rice while benefiting all parties involved, Vice Chairman of the Rice Division in the Federation of Egyptian Industries Mostafa Atallah said on Monday.

Newly-appointed Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy said Sunday that he would reconsider a decision suspending rice exports, state-owned news agency MENA reported. Hanafy explained that there have been calls to resume rice exports “in order to open new rice markets abroad, and contribute to revitalising the economy”.

Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour announced last November a bid to export 100,000 tonnes of rice, set to take place from mid-November to January 2014. Abdel Nour said at the time that exporting rice would be “beneficial”, as global prices are high.However, rice exports were suspended in November due to a shortage in quantities “intentionally” created by merchants who had attempted to monopolise the rice market, Atallah explained.According to Atallah, rice exportation was set to begin in September; however, “merchants requested to postpone it to November”. During those two months, merchants collected high quantities of rice in the market in order to control prices, he added. The Ministry of Supply could not determine an adequate quantity for exporting, Atallah said.

Former Minister of Supply Mohamed Abu Shady, under Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi’s cabinet, announced in October that rice exports will be halted “until all ration needs of the grain are met”.The government sells 1.4m tonnes of subsidised rice per year, at EGP 1.5 per kilogram, according to Abu Shady.
“I will not pay heed to the interests of a few dozen rice exporters at the expense of domestic markets,” Abu Shady told the Daily News Egypt in a November interview. The minister stated that rice exports will resume, adding that prices of rice hiked from EGP 1,800 a tonne to EGP 2,000.
Egypt produces 6.5m tonnes of rice, of which it uses up 3.5m to 4m tonnes, according to Abu Shady.

In 2012, Egypt exported 650,000 tonnes of rice to 58 countries in Europe and the Arab region, Atallah stated.

Before leaving the ministry, Abu Shady decided on 22 February to refer the head of the central import administration at the General Authority for Supply Administration (GASC) to administrative prosecutors on charges of “corruption”.

Egypt cuts rice crop area by nearly half

Egypt cut by almost half the amount of land it used to sow rice in 2010 versus the previous year, saving the country 5-6 billion cubic metres of water, the official state news agency MENA said on Thursday. The amount of land on which rice was grown was reduced to 1.2 million feddans (1.2 million acres) from 2.2 million last year, MENA said, citing the Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam. Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, wants to reduce its domestic production of the water-intensive crop. Bread is the main staple for most Egyptians, and Egypt imports more than half its wheat needs. An official was quoted as saying this month that Egypt wanted to achieve 70 percent wheat sufficiency. But rice is still a popular staple food. Climate change threatens a fragile farm sector in Egypt and population growth may outstrip water resources as early as 2017. Under a 1929 agreement with the Nile Basin countries, Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres a year, the lion's share of the Nile's total flow of around 84 billion cubic metres. The North African country has been in dispute with other Nile Basin countries eager for a greater share of river water to support power generation projects and agricultural growth.

Egypt yearly report

Rice is a major summer crop in Egypt, occupying 10 percent of Egypt’s total crop area. The entire rice crop is irrigated. Rice requires a special irrigation regime and its cultivation is largely restricted to the northern part of the Delta. It is often planted on low quality land where the soil is fairly saline and has varying degrees of productivity. A limited amount of rice is also grown in the middle Delta and in Upper Egypt. Farmers normally exceed the area targeted by the government for rice cultivation despite the prospect of fines (LE 600/ feddan) for those who violate their targeted areas. This is due to the much higher profitability of rice cultivation compared to other traditional summer crops (i.e. corn and cotton) and the higher potent for exporting the crop. The government is trying to restrict the area of rice and increase the area of corn to save water. Consumption: Egypt consumes medium grain rice and rice consumption is relatively constant, as consumers continue to prefer wheat-based products. Rice stocks in MY 2009/10 are declining due to the noticeable decrease in production compared to MY 2008/09. There is no stock-holding policy, with levels reflecting pipeline supplies. Buyers tend to avoid holding stocks and push them to the export market. Trade: Egypt is a net rice exporter. Exports in MY 2009/10 should recover slightly and reach 485 TMT. The government objective is to export between 500-600 TMT in 2009/10. The total quantity of rice exported through the end of February 2010 was 230 TMT. The leading import markets are: Syria (26%), Turkey (13%), Belgium (8%), Jordan (8%), Saudi Arabia (6%), and Sudan (5%). However, in MY 2010/2011, exports are forecast to decline even further as a result of government restrictions on the area cultivated with rice and the increase in local consumption. During MY 2008/09 rice exports were 452 TMT, much lower than previous years. On February 4, 2009, the Minister of Trade and Industry issued a decree which removed the ban on rice exports as of February 21, 2009. This decree (no.105) permits Egyptian rice to be exported provided that the exporter delivers through a tender an amount equal to the exported amount to the Government of Egypt and pays the government LE 1,000 per MT in export taxes. In the past, there were government to government deals with Jordan, Syria, and Sudan, but since the government set a system of tying the rice exports to the new tender system, only a shipment of 20 TMT was exported to Turkey through the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) to stabilize the prices there. There was an attempt to conclude a deal with the Syrian government but it stopped when this new system was introduced and because of the political tension between the two countries. Puerto Rico has imported 38 TMT of rice from Egypt in June 2009. Most of the EU (mainly Belgium) imports broken rice from Egypt. Small quantities of high quality name-brand rice are imported by up-scale supermarkets in Europe. Policy The removal of the export ban occurred much earlier than expected. The ban, which began on April 1, 2008 ended in Feb 2009. At the time the ban was implemented, rough rice prices had reached about $430 per ton, compared to about $200 at the beginning of the export season in October 2007. Similarly, export prices for milled rice jumped from $450/ton to $750/ton and by the end of 2009 it was about $ 680/ton. The decision to suspend exports had an immediate impact on prices, with rough rice prices dropping almost $100 per ton to $330 on the local market. This ban forced many countries in the region to source rice from other countries, including the United States. The government-owned rice mills are protesting the export quota auction scheme because they fear that they will lose money if they successfully bid on the export quota, but don't have an export contract locked in. At the same time, if they have an export contract but cannot obtain the export quota they will be in default to the importer or forced to buy the export quota at a premium from a successful bidder. The private trade is better able to operate in this environment and does not have any problems with the export quota auction except that Ministry of Trade and Industry may not reveal the quantity of quota available or the minimum bid. The quota ranges from LE 600 to LE750/ton. There has been some contraband exporting of rice as salt or broken rice, especially to Lebanon. According to the exporters, in order for the Egyptian government to maintain enough quantities for local consumption and, at the same time, reduce the area cultivated with rice, the government is planning to tighten the export restrictions and limit the export licenses issued. Export Trade Matrix Rice, Milled Year 2008/09 Exports to: U.S. 130 Syria 136,415 Libya 24,312 Turkey 59,630 Belgium 35,456 Saudi-Arabia 25,216 Sudan 27,450 Jordan 39,612 Ukraine 11,435 Puerto Rico 38,000 Lebanon 10,654

Egypt buys 49,000 tonnes of rice from local market

Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) said on Thursday it bought 49,000 tonnes of rice from the local market through a tender. Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of GASC said the price range was 1,595-1,639 Egyptian pounds per tonne and the quantity was due to be supplied to the consumers under the subsidy programme between March 25 and April 14.

Egypt's trade ministry plans to double export duties

Egypt's trade ministry plans to double export duties on rice to LE2,000 ($358) per ton, the daily al Mal has reported. Egypt's trade ministry had informed companies which sell rice to the state's General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) of the increase, the council member has said.

Egypt hikes rice export duty

Egypt has raised the export duty on rice to 300 Egyptian pounds ($54.84) a tonne, from 200 pounds, the state news agency Mena said on Saturday.

Egypt introduced the duty last September to ensure supplies of rice to the local market and hold down domestic prices. Mena said trade and industry minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid had increased the duty in response to higher world prices.

The retail price of local rice has risen by up to 30 per cent in recent months, along with sharp rises in the prices of other staple foodstuffs. The government tried to persuade rice dealers to impose their own voluntary restrictions on exports but the prices on offer abroad were too high to resist, said an expert familiar with the rice trade