HAMBURG: Algerian state agency ONAB has issued a new international tender to purchase up to 240,000 metric tons of animal feed corn sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Wednesday.

The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender was Tuesday, June 17, they said. Offers are still being considered and no purchase has yet been reported.

The new announcement is believed to indicate that no significant purchase was made in Algeria’s previous tender for 240,000 tons of corn which closed on June 3, they said.

Algeria has repeatedly issued corn tenders most weeks in May and June but participation by trading houses was said to have been thin. Traders claim delays in ship unloading in Algerian ports had generated painful financial charges for sellers.

Some traders also said they regard the repeated corn tenders as price-checking rather than indications of actual import demand.

Terms in the latest tender had again been changed to corn sourced from optional worldwide origins. A series of past tenders seeking corn from Argentina or Brazil as the only sources ended without significant purchases, traders said.

The latest tender sought six consignments of 30,000 to 40,000 tons for shipment between July 15 and July 31, traders said. (Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Eileen Soreng)