EGYPT announced on Thursday it is to impose a 30% duty on sugar imports to protect the local industry against dumping and declining world prices. Public Enterprise Minister Atef Ebeid said the price of one ton of imported sugar plunged from $434 in 1997 to $160. Importers took advantage of the low prices to hoard 2,3-million tons of sugar over the last two years with which they flooded the market, crippling the local industry, Ebeid said.