Egypt to import 850K tons of sugar till October: minister

CAIRO – 15 August 2017: Egypt imported 350,000 tons of sugar, out of 850,000 contracted to be supplied until October, Minister of Supply Ali Moselhy said Tuesday.

Moselhy made the statements during a meeting with the higher committee for sugar trade, where he discussed plans to secure sugar trade during the refining season.

Sugar refinery season starts in July and ends in October, while sugar production season begins in January.

The committee agreed to assign sugar factories the process of marketing and selling sugar for industrial purposes at LE 500 ($28.7) for each ton as of August.

In March, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail decided to exempt raw sugar imports from customs tariffs from January 1 to December 31 of this year.

A month later, Egypt’s Trade and Industry Ministry decided to impose a sugar export tariff worth LE 3,000 ($169.2) per ton.

Egypt produces around 2.4 million tons of sugar annually, while annual consumption averages 3.1 million tons. The gap is filled by private and public imports.