13 cases of violations of fertilizers' distribution in Sohag referred to prosecution

CAIRO – 20 July 2018: Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ezz el-Din Abu Steit stated on Thursday that 13 cases of violations of fertilizers' distribution in Upper Egypt's Sohag governorate have been referred to prosecution.

He clarified that 15 officials of agricultural associations in Sohag were suspended from work after being accused of manipulating documents for the disbursement of fertilizers and violating the rule of fertilizers' distribution.

The Agriculture Ministry has issued strict instructions to intensify supervision on the factories producing fertilizers and to assure that they stick to the rules of the distribution of fertilizers and the monthly shares of farmers.

Egypt’s exports of chemicals and fertilizers increased by 22.2 percent in January and February 2018, recording $748 million, compared to $613 million in the same period of 2017, according to data from the Chemicals and Fertilizers Export Council.

The council showed that the chemicals and fertilizers sector’s exports stood at $364 million in January 2018, compared to $287 million the previous year, recording a 26.8 percent increase.

In February, exports reached $384 million, versus $326 million last year, recording an 18.4 increase.

The council’s head Khaled Abul-Makarem said that the sector aims to increase its exports by 20-25 percent this year, saying that the hike in exports in the first two months of 2018 will support the sector’s target.

He added that commercial delegations to European, Arab and African markets will be organized to boost Egypt’s market share in these markets.

Data from the council showed earlier that Egypt’s exports of chemicals and fertilizers rose 32 percent year-on-year in the period from January to November 2017.

Exports recorded $3.9 billion in an 11-month period, up from $2.991 billion in the previous year.

Egypt’s overall exports increased 7 percent year-on-year in January 2018 to reach $2.15 billion, compared to $2.01 billion in the same month in 2017, the state's statistics agency, CAPMAS, said earlier.

In its monthly bulletin on foreign trade data, CAPMAS ascribed the increase to a hike in the exports of some goods, such petroleum products, increasing by 174.9 percent, detergents (31.4 percent), dairy products (9.7 percent) and ready-made garments (5.7 percent).

Egypt’s trade deficit declined 15.7 percent year-on-year in the first half of fiscal year 2017/18, dropping from $21.7 billion to $18.3 billion, Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed said in February.