Food producers Regina and Bisco Misr have cut expansion plans and are dialing-down output on FX volatility: Pasta maker Regina froze plans to add three new production lines worth a total of EGP 1.5 bn, saying the decision came amid FX volatility and fuel price increases following the EGP float, supply chain manager Ahmed Talaat told Al Borsa. Production is down 25% following the float compared to trailing four-month period, Talaat said, and the cost of production inputs — from plastic packaging to flour — is up 80-100%. Regina’s products are 50% more expensive in the market now.

Regina’s news comes as baked goods and cereal manufacturer Bisco Misr has also shut down several production lines, including corn flakes, since the float, the newspaper reported. The company has reduced headcount and cut production to reduce losses, sources at the company said. Bisco Misr had to increase prices of certain products by 100% and cut the weight of others by 28%, the sources added. The food industry had also been reeling this month from sugar shortages, and the Supply Ministry raising the price of sugar to industry to EGP 11,000 per tonne last week.

On that front, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail decreed that tariffs on white sugar imports would be lifted last night, Al Mal reports. Imports will remain customs free until 30 May 2017, and will apply retroactively from 10 November 2016. Poultry imports were also lifted, provoking a backlash from domestic producers, who called it a threat to the local industry. Members of the House of Representatives’ agriculture committee said they would file formal inquiries into the Ismail’s decision and threatening boycotts, Al Borsa reports. The Cairo Chamber of Commerce also voiced objections, demanding that the government backtrack on its decision ASAP.