Egypt seeks record 3.8mln tons of wheat in new tender

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The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) announced a record-breaking tender for 3.8 million metric tons of wheat, aiming to cover imports from October 2024 to April 2025, traders in the know told Reuters on August 6th.

Egypt is looking for free-on-board shipments and plans to purchase using 270-day letters of credit.

GASC has requested that traders submit bids for at least three months of shipments, with a deadline of August 12.

"This is a very unusual tender," said one trader, adding, "We usually submit bids for shipping a month or two in advance. It would be very difficult to submit a freight offer six or seven months in advance."

Another trader suggested that trading houses might still pursue the business, incorporating the banking costs of the 270-day payment delay into their price offers.

Recently, the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade raised the selling price of domestic and imported wheat supplied to mills for making subsidized bread by around 20% to EGP 13,750 per ton as of August.

Egypt's strategic reserves of wheat supplies are expected to last for approximately 7 months.