CAIRO - Egypt's state-owned sugar buyer, Egyptian Sugar and Integrated Industries Company (ESIIC), set a tender on Saturday to buy 50,000 tonnes of Brazilian raw cane sugar, a document seen by Reuters showed.

The deadline for offers is December 19.

Egypt has temporarily banned the import of raw and white sugar in a bid to protect its local industry but some exceptions could be allowed if approved by the ministers of supply and trade.

(Reporting by Nadine Awadalla Editing by Gareth Jones) ((Nafisa.Eltahir@thomsonreuters.com; +971 56 226 1754;))