AMMAN, May 6 (Reuters) - Jordan's state grains buyer has bought 7,000 tonnes of Egyptian rice at $640 per tonne C&F for arrival this month, Jordanian traders said on Tuesday.

They said the government-to-government deal was secretly concluded after a Jordanian trade delegation held talks in the Egyptian capital. The rice will arrive by sea in one lot.

The deal specifies that the high quality rice is sold in government-run stores for low income Jordanians and not in the local market.

The government has sought to contain food inflation by seeking government-to-government deals with Syria for wheat and Egypt for rice.

It has fixed prices of some commodities while slashing customs duties to help poor Jordanians cope with the impact of high food prices.

The Egyptian government banned rice exports from April 1 to October because of high prices of other grains, especially wheat, which has pushed up domestic demand for rice.

(Reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi; editing by Editing by Peter Blackburn)