Maritime disruptions block 75% of Egypt’s rice export orders
Heightened geopolitical turbulence and regional maritime disruptions have blocked three-quarters of Egypt's recent rice export orders, leaving the state-backed “Future of Egypt” capable of shipping only a fraction of contracted grain, two traders told Al Manassa.
Local companies submitted export requests for 100,000 tons of rice to the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development (Mostaqbal Misr) since mid-August, but the authority managed to ship only 25,000 tons, according to Rice Division data from the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce cited by the traders.
The bottlenecks come as Cairo attempts to offload part of an estimated 900,000-ton annual domestic surplus through the authority. The initiative follows approval from Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Mohamed Farid Saleh to extend the export window through Future of Egypt until the end of next year.
To facilitate these sales, the authority imposed a levy of approximately 20% per ton on local firms for brokering the export deals, funneling the proceeds directly into its own financial resource development, according to an informed source within the authority and two traders who spoke previously with Al Manassa.
Shipping routes paralyzed
Export contracts are tumbling due to regional upheaval, notably the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the ensuing panic gripping the commercial maritime sector over navigation hazards and mounting freight costs, said Mostafa El-Sultisi, former deputy head of the Rice Division.
Domestic prices for unhusked paddy rice dropped this week by 1,000 to 1,500 Egyptian pounds per ton, driven down by expanding market supply as the new harvest season begins, El-Sultisi told Al Manassa.
The price of slender-grain unhusked rice slid to between 12,500 and 13,000 pounds per ton, down from approximately 14,000 pounds, while broad-grain rice fell to roughly 15,000 pounds per ton from 16,000 pounds.
Egypt’s rice cultivation cycle traditionally begins in May, with harvesting running from August through the end of October. Rice mills then process and release the grain onto retail markets starting in November.
Traditional markets shut down
Export operations to several key Egyptian rice destinations have ground to a permanent halt, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and certain European Union member states, noted Mostafa Abdel Gawad, a member of the Rice Division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce and head of an import-export trading company.
Egypt holds an estimated 300,000 tons in carryover stock from last season, alongside an expected surplus from the approaching harvest, Abdel Gawad told Al Manassa.
While this supply provides an ample cushion to meet both domestic consumption and foreign sales, maritime transit chaos continues to prevent shipments abroad, he added.
Abdel Gawad projected that upcoming domestic paddy production will reach between 6.5 million and 7 million tons, yielding roughly 4.5 million tons of milled white rice.
With local consumption standing at 3.6 million tons annually, the resulting surplus could fuel an expansive export drive if regional geopolitical conditions stabilize.
The mandate granting the Future of Egypt Authority sole authority to export rice marks a significant departure in official policy. The government had outlawed rice exports since 2016 under Trade and Industry Ministerial Decree No. 722 of 2016 to preserve the country’s dwindling water resources—a conservation measure spurred by the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its toll on Egypt's Nile water quota. That ban was renewed by the government and the Customs Authority as recently as February 2025 before the current exception mechanism was instituted.