Egypt achieved self-sufficiency in 2020 with the production of 6.5 million tonnes of rice, the cabinet has said.
Egypt’s Minister of Supply, Ali Moselhy, at the weekend disclosed that the North African country planted 1.76 million acres of rice this season and the resulting harvest quantities are more than sufficient for the country’s needs.
Moselhy said Egypt has strategic rice reserves sufficient for 11.1 months.
Meanwhile, the supply minister had last week said Egypt will become self-sufficient in sugar production by the end of 2021.
He said the country has sugar reserves for 3.2 months for its subsidy programme.
Egypt has temporarily banned sugar imports to protect the local sugar industry. The ban may be modified if the trade and supply ministers approve the proposal.
In the same vein, Egypt, the world’s largest wheat buyer, expects prices to stabilize in the coming months after recent highs driven by uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic and recent protective measures such as the Russian export quota.
“We’ve seen price highs over the last three months which, in my opinion, are not caused by what we used to say before, such as weak harvests or climate factors, it’s all coming from uncertainty,” Egyptian Supply Minister Ali Moselhy said.