Cabinet Issues Decision to Suspend Pricing of White Rice

The Cabinet issued a decision to suspend the pricing of white rice for a period of 3 months or until further notice, as of February 15.

The decision was based on what was presented by the Minister of Supply and Internal Trade and approved by the Cabinet.

It is noteworthy that the selling price of a kilogram of packaged white rice ranged from 14 to 18 pounds, and a kilogram of loose rice at a price of 12 pounds, last September.

Ibrahim Al-Ashmawy, First Assistant Minister of Supply and Head of the Internal Trade Development Authority said in televised statements that the fodder crisis is behind the rise in the price of rice.

He explained that the suspension of the price range in the rice commodity is a suspension, not a cancellation, as a result of the expiry of the decision period issued on November 17, which ended on February 17, a period of three months.

He pointed out that the decision on the issue of working with the idea of ​​the price range or guiding prices will be after a meeting within hours to decide on the possibility of continuing to work with the price range or not, saying: “We do not have a compulsory pricing, but we have a guiding price range.”

He explained that rice is a strategic commodity, like wheat, and here a link must be made between rice and fodder. The price of a ton of rice and barley is 15,000 pounds, and the fraction rate ranges between 3-8%, and a ton is traded between 20-22 thousand pounds.

He said, “We do not suffer in Egypt from a crisis in rice production, and we have self-sufficiency and surplus,” referring to the market price fluctuations in the rice commodity for several reasons, the first of which is the fodder problem, which led some to resort to rice as an alternative commodity to feed livestock.

Egypt imports 85% of its fooder, and some producers used rice as a substitute to the lake of soya beans and corn, in addition to some withholding the rice commodity for the purpose of speculation, but there is no shortage in the quantities produced, as the surplus is 400,000 tons of rice annually, with needs estimated at 3.600 million tons.