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Egypte bought wheat from Romania as the the traders refused to present offers
The General Authority for Acquisition (GASC) in Egypte, the responsible entity for strategic acquisitions of wheat in the name of the Egyptian state, acquired on Friday a quantity of 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat, after the previous two international bids had to be annulled due to the refuse of the traders to present offers, due to the confusion starting from the content of ergot(a fungus which parasites different cereals) accepted by the Egyptian part, informs Bloomberg.
At the bid organised on Friday GASC paid a price of 190.88 dollars/tons, price which includes the cost of transport, the Romanian wheat being delivered by the Ameropa company.
Even so, at the international bid organised on Friday GASC received only five bids, as compared to a number of 10 up to 20 which normally were given.
Ameropa made the smallest price offer if they add shipping. If they exclude shipping, the smallest offer was made by Cargill Inc. which offered 60,000 tons of French wheat at a price of 185,25 dollars/ton against 186.55 dollars/ton in the case of the Romanian wheat offered by Ameropa.
According to the traders, the reduced participation of the big international companies at the bid organised on Friday is explained by the confusion which exists with regards to the content of ergot accepted by the Egyptian part. While the General Authority for Acquisition (GASC) in Egypte considers that they accept wheat with a content of ergot of maximum 0.05% , a series of officials in the ministry of agriculture of Egypte stated that all deliveries with a content higher than 0 will be banned, so that a ship with French wheat was forbidden entrance into the Egyptian ports.
In the attempt of regaining the trust of traders, the ministry of acquisition and that of agriculture in Egypte organised on Sunday a press conference where they ensured the suppliers they will accept wheat with a content of ergot of up to 0.05% this being the accepted standard at global level.
From the beginning of the fiscal year 2015/2016 Egypte, the biggest world importer of wheat acquired over three million tons of wheat, among the main suppliers being Romania.