Egypt’s GASC to Import 6 Million mt of Wheat This Year

Egypt’s state grains agency, GASC, was expected to import a record six million mt of wheat this marketing year, up from around 5.4 million mt in the last year, traders said.

A GASC wheat tender was announced Tuesday for shipment July 15-25 for 12.5% protein wheat.

GASC closed its most recent wheat tender on Saturday for 360,000 mt for July 10-20 shipment on an FOB basis at an average price of $194.22/mt, which included both Romanian and Russian origins. That followed a tender that closed on May 31 when 240,000 mt were purchased.

The incoming wheat will likely contain new crop wheat as per the May 31 tender, which applied special late loading penalties to accommodate a shortage of old crop wheat on the market, traders said.

For the May 31 tender, GASC limited late loading penalties to 1% per week, with a maximum three weeks applicable with demurrage applicable thereafter.

Egypt has been stocking large quantities of wheat to due to a lack of supply, local market sources said, adding it was likely GASC will hold another tender before June 30 due to surplus government budget for grain purchasing and it being the end of the financial year.

Following the June 10 tender, traders expected Russian 12.5% wheat new crop prices to remain stable. Offers for Russian 12.5% protein wheat for August loading were heard at $181/mt versus bids at $177/mt Monday.