Egyptian cotton exports hit $ 144 million

"About 25 Asian and European countries have agreed to procure 68,660 kantars of raw long staple Egyptian cotton for US $ 144 million in the fourteenth week of the cotton contracting season,"a Government official said yesterday.

Abdel-Halim el-Attar, Chairman of the Cotton Arbitration And Testing Authority, said that India, Pakistan and Switzerland top the list of importers of Egyptian cotton for the 2004-2005 seasons.

The three countries, El-Attar said, have signed contracts to purchase almost 65 per cent of this season's cotton harvest.

Egypt, he continued, was committed to exporting 1,605,780 kantars of cotton between the beginning of the harvest season and December 25.