The previously planned three-month ban on onion exports, which was set to commence last week, will now come into effect on 1 October, announced Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry on 24 September.
This delay is in consideration of existing export agreements.
The Egyptian Cabinet had initially announced a three-month prohibition on onion exports on 20 September to curb rising prices in local markets.
Onion prices have surged to EGP 35 per kilogram in some local markets, a significant increase from EGP 27 the previous month and EGP 12 a year ago.
This increase is attributed to intermediaries and traders stockpiling onions, as noted by Alaa Khalil, the director of the Field Crops Research Institute at the Ministry of Agriculture, to the Happening in Egypt TV programme
Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) recently attributed volatile food prices to the country’s record-breaking annual headline inflation rate of 39.7 percent in August.
Egypt typically harvests over three million tons of onions annually and exports a substantial portion of that production.
Onions have traditionally been an affordable staple in Egyptian cuisine, with the average Egyptian consuming around 15 kilograms of onions per year.
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