Private companies refused to participate in the first cotton auction held under a new mechanism yesterday, complaining that the opening price of EGP 2.1k per qintar was too high, the Public Enterprises Ministry said in a statement picked up by the local press. The new public auction system is being applied on a trial basis in Fayoum and Beni Suef, and could be rolled out to other governorates for the 2020/2021 harvest if it proves successful. The cotton was awarded to El Wady for Trading and Cotton Ginning, which paid 70% to the farmers up front and promised to pay the rest in the coming week.