(Adds cost and freight, detail)
CAIRO, June 10 (Reuters) – Egypt’s state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC,) on Wednesday received a lowest offer of $216.90 for 60,000 tonnes of Russian grain on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, traders said.
GASC is seeking an unspecified quantity of wheat in an international purchase tender for July 12-22 shipment and said it will pay for the grain under a 180-day deferred payment system.
Traders said that meeting a July shipment period could be quite difficult against the backdrop of an uncertain crop outlook in Russia.
“For me it is the uncertainty about the harvest outcome in both the Black Sea and EU which is making it difficult to offer to GASC today,” one European trader said.
“The weather has not been good and you could get burned if new crop prices are higher than expected if harvests are smaller.”
SovEcon, one of the leading agriculture consultancies in Moscow, said on Wednesday that it had raised its forecast for Russia’s 2020 grain crop as the weather has improved in the key wheat producing and exporting area of the country.
The buyer turned to the market for the new wheat crop last week, purchasing 120,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat on June 2 for shipment between July 10-25 with payment at sight.
Renewable funding from the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation has occasionally allowed GASC to pay for its purchases immediately.
Traders said that its default to issuing letters of credit – banking guarantees for on-time payment to sellers – prior to shipment, with payment guaranteed within 180 days, had also contributed to the high prices on offer in Wednesday’s tender.
Egypt’s own wheat harvest is still underway and the government has so far procured 3.3 million tonnes of local grain from a target of 3.6 million tonnes.
Traders gave the following breakdown of the offers received on Tuesday in dollars per tonne FOB:
* Agro AST 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $223.00
* RIF 55,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $222.00
* Ameropa 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $218.49
* Posco 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $216.90
Traders said the following were the most competitive offers presented including cost and freight:
* Posco 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $216.90 and $10.00 freight equating to $226.90
* Ameropa 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $218.49 and $10.00 freight equating to $228.49
* RIF 55,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $222.00 and $11.30 freight equating to $233.30
* Agro AST 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $223.00 and $10.00 freight equating to $233.00
No purchase has yet been made and results are expected later on Wednesday. (Reporting by Nadine Awadalla in Cairo, Maha El Dahan in Dubai, Michael Hogan in Hamburg, editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
