Sugar prices to fall to LE 9.5 per kilo in September: Official

CAIRO – 29 August 2017: The price of subsidized sugar will be reduced from LE 10 ($0.57) per kilo to LE 9.5 as of September, an official source at the Ministry of Supply-affiliated Food Industries Holding Company said.

The reduction will come as the ton of sugar price will decrease from LE 10,000 ($565.369) to LE 9,500, the source told Egypt Today.

New prices for subsidized commodities were introduced in June, where the sugar was set at LE 10 per kilo and cooking oil at LE 14 per bottle.

In August, Minister of Supply Aly Moselhy said Egypt imported 350,000 tons of sugar, out of 850,000 contracted to be supplied until October.

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.

In late June, President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi announced the government will increase the subsidies on ration cards from LE 21 to LE 50 ($1.1 - $2.7) per individual, as part of a series of decisions that target boosting the social safety net.

The decision would raise allocations of food subsidies in the fiscal year (FY) 2017/18 budget to LE 85 billion from LE 47 billion in FY16/2017.