Egypt buys 180,000 tonnes of Russia, Romania wheat

Egypt, the world’s largest importer of wheat, has purchased 180,000 tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat in a purchase tender on Wednesday, state buyer GASC announced, beating out U.S. wheat.

GASC bought 120,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and 60,000 tonnes of Romanian, it said, and traders said the winning offers were as follows: *60,000 tonnes of Romanian wheat presented by ADM for $201.56 per tonne on a cost and freight basis. *120,000 tonnes of Russian wheat presented by Midgulf for $203.14 on a cost and freight basis.

The purchase included:

The five lowest priced offers after accounting for shipping costs were all for Romanian and Russian wheat, origins that dominated last year’s GASC tenders.

The last purchase tender saw the first sale of U.S. wheat to GASC in more than two years, but traders said U.S. sales were likely to be short-lived, and only until Black Sea region supplies become more abundant in July when their harvests arrive at export ports.

“Black Sea region is the dominant origin but the United States will be encouraged to have been offered against such tough competition,” said one German-based trader.

The United States had two offers, presented by Louis Dreyfus and Ameropa for $197.70 and $204.75, respectively, per tonne free-on-board. For a full list of offers click here

European traders said the Black Sea wheat, cheaper than at GASC’s previous tender earlier this month by about $5.5 per tonne, already reflected new crop prices.

Unlike in most previous years, GASC has continued to hold purchase tenders during its local harvest, which is set to run through July. Egypt has said it is targeting between 3.5 million and 4 million tonnes of wheat from local farmers.

GASC was seeking an unspecified amount of wheat from global suppliers for July 1-10 shipment in Wednesday’s tender.

Source: Reuters and UkrAgroConsult