Egypt’s GASC buys 180,000 tons of Russian, Romanian wheat

Egypt’s state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), said on Friday it had bought 180,000 tons of Russian and Romanian wheat in a tender for July 11-20 shipment.

Egypt, the world’s biggest importer of wheat, bought 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat from Bunge, another 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat from Nidera and 60,000 tons of Russian wheat from Aston, said GASC vice chairman Mamdouh Abdel Fattah.

The wheat was purchased at an average price of $200.72 a ton on a cost-and-freight basis, he said.

Traders gave the following breakdown of the purchase:

* 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat from Bunge at $192.16 a ton free-on-board (fob) and $8.29 a ton freight from Venus

* 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat from Nidera at $192.16 a ton fob and $8.60 a ton freight from National Navigation

* 60,000 tons of Russian wheat from Aston at $191.98 a ton fob and $8.99 a ton freight from National Navigation

It GASC’s second tender in two days after the agency bought 60,000 tons of Russian wheat from Louis Dreyfus on Thursday for the same shipment period.

Apart from purchases on the international market, Egypt has bought a record 5.275 million tons this local procurement season which started mid-April and is due to end on Monday.

The supply ministry said on Thursday that Egypt’s strategic wheat reserves were enough to last until Dec. 22.