CAIRO: Egypt expects 2.6 million tonnes of beet and cane sugar from this year's harvest and aims to reduce imports to less than last year's 800,000 tonnes, agriculture ministry spokesman Hamed Abdel-Dayem told Reuters on Thursday.
Egypt last year faced a severe sugar shortage that led to public outrage and the government seizing stocks, confiscating supplies from businesses it accused of hoarding as prices shot up.
The government expects 1.1 million tonnes of sugar cane and 1.5 million tonnes of sugar beet to be produced by farmers this year, Abdel-Dayem said.
Egypt typically consumes 3 million tonnes of sugar a year but produces a little more than 2 million tonnes, with the gap filled by government and private imports, usually purchased between July and October.
The government will buy local sugar cane from farmers for 600 Egyptian pounds ($33.44) a tonne and will pay 450 pounds a tonne for beet, Abdel-Dayem said.
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