Egypt's Rice Imports to Fall 55% in 2023-24

By George Mwangi

Special to Dow Jones Newswires

Egypt's milled-rice imports are forecast to fall sharply by 55% in the marketing year beginning October through September 2024, due to expected higher local production, the U.S. Agriculture Department said late Tuesday.

Imports are expected to fall to 250,000 metric tons from 550,000 tons in the current marketing year, the USDA said in its Egypt annual grain and feed report.

In 2023-24, milled-rice production in the country is forecast to rise 45% to 3.78 million tons from 2.60 million tons in the current year, it said.

This increase is attributed to high prices of rough and milled rice currently in the market, which could motivate farmers to increase areas for the crop, it said.

Egypt's rice consumption is estimated at 4.0 million tons in 2023-24, up by around 5.2% from the current marketing year, which has fallen by 6.2% compared with the prior year due to inflated prices of both rough and milled prices, the USDA said.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-06-23 1128ET