CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt is targeting cotton exports of 80,000 tonnes by the end of the 2009/10 season, which began in September, the agriculture minister said on Tuesday.

"Last year we exported 12,000 tonnes... We expect to export around 80,000 tonnes till August," Amin Abaza said at a food security conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.

He said so far Egypt had contracts to export 70,000 tonnes.

Egypt's Alexandria Cotton Exporters' Association said on Monday its export commitments for the 2009/2010 season had reached 55,569.3 tonnes of cotton worth $124.46 million.