Egyptian cotton is making a comeback: Exports of Egypt’s long-staple cotton are expected to rise 19% y-o-y to 38,000 tonnes in the 2016-17 export season which ends this month, according to Reuters. This follows a six-year slump marked by lax enforcement of quality measures on cotton. After strict measures on cultivating long-staple cotton were enforced last year, production has been scaled up to about 220,000 acres this year and is expected to hit up to 500,000 acres in the next two to three years, according to cotton traders. That, coupled with a weaker EGP since the float, has led to growth in exports. Modern Nile Cotton, Egypt's largest cotton trading company, expects to more than double its exports to about 16,000 tonnes this year from about 7,000 in the season that ends this month, chairman Ahmed El Bosaty tells Reuters.

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