Cotton production in Egypt is expected to increase by more than 30% y-o-y to reach 280k bales in the 2021-2022 marketing year — which runs from July to June — according to a report by the US agriculture department’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). The targets have been revised up from an earlier April forecast by FAS that predicted 16% annual growth to reach 250k bales in the current marketing year.

The growth would come on the back of a projected 20% y-o-y increase in harvested area to 85k hectares, as higher demand in 2021 incentivized farmers to keep planting through June after the end of the traditional season. But despite the jump, production still isn’t expected to rebound to the 305k bales it recorded in the 2019/20 market year.

Other things we’re keeping an eye on this morning:

• Private cars registered in Egypt and Saudi Arabia will be able to be driven in both countries, under an agreement signed between Cairo and Riyadh.
• German-Swiss construction firm Liebherr will provide 12 electric RTG cranes for Alexandria Port under a EGP 350 mn contract signed with the Transport Ministry.
• Egypt’s Arab Contractors has been awarded a new EUR 110 mn (c. EGP 2 bn) contract for an intercity road project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to be funded by the European Development Fund.
• Chinese telecom giant Huawei will provide Egypt’s Arab Organization for Industrialization with 40 microcontroller development boards to familiarize its software engineers with the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies, under an MoU signed yesterday between the two sides.