Egypt Likely To End Export Ban By September

According to the Egyptian trade minister, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Egypt will resume exporting rice at the beginning of September, reversing a temporary export ban, and could end up selling up to 1 million MT in foreign markets during the coming crop year.

Egypt had previously banned exports of rice until April 2009 to hold down prices on the local market, where inflation hit 20 percent in June.

Egypt normally produces about 4.6 million MT a year of white rice, leaving a domestic surplus of about 1.4 million MT for export.

Rice prices have risen this year as countries from India to Vietnam slapped bans on exports to hold down inflation.