Egypt, traditionally a rice exporter, has contracted to purchase 20,000 tonnes of Indian rice as per a cabinet statement on 03 May. Egypt govt statement did not explain why it had contracted to buy the rice. But in December, govt said it would import rice after cancelling a tender to buy locally produced rice when the bidding companies all offered higher prices than the govt had asked for. Egypt rice paddy production is estimated at 5.1 million metric tonnes in 2016 versus annual consumption of about 3.95 million tonnes, said USDA.