CAIRO- Egypt will begin importing rice, a crop it has typically had in surplus, to increase stocks and "control the market," Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Tuesday, without specifying how much or when.

Egypt this year slashed cultivation of rice, a water-intensive crop, to conserve vital Nile river resources.

Rice traders said at the time that the policy would push Egypt to import up to 1 million tonnes of the grain next year after previously being an exporter.

(Reporting by Momen Saeed Atallah Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Adrian Croft) ((eric.knecht@thomsonreuters.com; +20 2 2394 8102; Reuters Messaging: eric.knecht.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))