EVALUATING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF EGYPTIAN RICE EXPORTS

This research aims to evaluate the competitiveness of rice exports during the period of (2002- 2013) using the market share index, the relative stability of exports coefficient, competitive price and market penetration coefficient to know causes of declining market shares for exports of Egyptian rice in the key markets and to suggest some methods to develop the Egyptian export policy for rice to increase competitiveness and improve export performance in the foreign markets. The results indicated that about 67.45% of the average amount of Egyptian rice exports is concentrated in five countries namely: Syria, Turkey, Libya, Jordan and the Sudan and about 32.55% is concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Romania, the United States, Lebanon, Britain, the United Arab of Emirates, Kenya, Italy and other countries. Also, the results cleared a comparative advantage for Egyptian exports of rice in the world market. It was shown that each of the quantity, value and export price of rice is characterized by instability. The Egyptian rice has a competitive price advantage in India, Australia, Italy, the United States, China and Pakistan. The results showed that the penetration coefficient of the Egyptian exports of rice during the study period (2002- 2013) increases in the markets of the Sudan, Romania, Syria, Libya, Jordan and Lebanon. The study recommends the expansion of Egyptian rice to the markets of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kenya which is considered one of the promising markets. Establishing a system to follow up the export markets and gather accurate and immediate information about those markets and make it available in an easy and accessible way for the producers and exporters to identify the export opportunities and directing the production to the markets which receive a great amount of the Egyptian rice crop. Studying the competitive conditions of the Egyptian rice inside its main markets in order to increase the amount of exports.