Egypt considers international rice tenders

Egypt's main government grain buyer said on Thursday it would issue international tenders to buy rice if local producers continue stocking up on the commodity.

"We are issuing a tender next week to buy both local and imported rice that is already in the country through private importers," Nomani Nomani, Vice Chairman of the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), told Reuters.

If local traders continue to store their rice to push up prices, "international tenders will be the next step because if I import directly I can get better prices", he said.

The Arab world's most populous nation spends around $5.5 billion each year on food subsidies, a burden it can ill afford as the economy falters and foreign reserves tumble after the uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Foreign reserves have plunged from $36 billion at the end of 2010 to about $20 billion at the end of November.

Several Asian countries had already expressed interest in selling the commodity direct to Egypt's government.

"There is interest from Thailand and several other southeast Asian origins such as the Philippines and Vietnam that have also said they want to export their rice to Egypt," Nomani said.

A meeting with Thailand's ambassador to Egypt has already taken place, he added.

Egypt, once a major medium-grain rice exporter, has had an export ban in place since March 2008 to head off shortages on the local market.