Summary
Borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor has rarely been so contentious in Egypt.
Egypt consumes around 3 million tons of sugar annually but produces just over 2 million tons, with the gap filled by imports, usually between July and October when local beet and sugar cane supplies have wound down. But traders said high-global sugar prices, which surged 50 percent over the past year, combined with a rising black market rate for dollars has made it too expensive and risky for many importers to obtain sugar in recent months.
An arm of the Supply Ministry bought around 225,000 tons of sugar in August from state-owned factories, earmarking for government outlets stocks that normally supply the private sector, traders told Reuters.
Egypt's state grain buyer GASC has issued several sugar tenders over the past two months, buying about 250,000 tons so far.
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