Egypt seeks more cotton imports from African countries

Egypt's government-backed garment export council wants to expand its base of African cotton suppliers and is seeking to import around 250,000 tonnes a year, a senior industry official said on Thursday.

The move could be a further relaxation of restrictive import rules designed to protect the domestic industry after a two-year temporary import ban was also lifted.

"As an industry, spinners and weavers, we want to open more countries to be a source of cotton importation," Mohamed Kassem, chairman of the Ready Made Garments Export Council said on the sidelines of an African textile conference in Cape Town.

"So, as an industry, we suggested to the government to open all African countries, except if there is infestation of certain pests," he told Reuters.

Egypt's cotton exports have been hit by a local hike in prices this year, following a decline in local production brought about by reduced acreage and the import ban removal.

Exports have dropped to 17,028 tonnes since the beginning of the marketing season of the cash crop in September 2013, a drop of 45.3 percent compared with the 31,137 tonnes exported in the same period of the previous season, authorities said in January.