CAIRO (Commodity Online): Egypt has made amendments in the rice exporting regulations and will export 100000 metric tonnes of rice from December under the new regulations, said the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The ministry said that under the new amendments export licenses will be issued through a closed envelope bidding process, with the total amount exported per license capped at 34,000 tons.

The ministry also reduced rice export fees from 2,000 Egyptian Pounds ($366) a ton to EGP1, 000 per tonne, reports Dow Jones Newswires.

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The ministry said the decision was made based on excess stock of around 500,000 million tons left over from last year, plus the anticipated 2009 crop. The move is expected to lead to higher prices paid to farmers to EGP800- EGP1200/ton, although consumer prices are likely to remain largely unchanged, the statement said.