Egyptian GASC purchased 290,000 tons of Black Sea wheat $9/t more expensive than in August

After a three-month break, the State Egyptian Agency GASC held a tender for the purchase of wheat on November 4, since deliveries under the direct agreement concluded in September with the Russian Federation have not started. It was previously reported that GASC purchased 3.12 million tons of Russian wheat, which was supposed to be delivered in batches of 510,000 tons from October to April, but the joint venture of the Egyptian company and another major grain market participant from the Russian Federation could not agree with Russian suppliers and the October delivery did not happen

The following applications were submitted for the tender on November 4 (all with payment deferred for 270 days):

• 18 (13 at auction on August 12) batches of Russian wheat at a price of $265 (253-274)/t FOB,
• 5 (7) batches of Romanian wheat at a price of $267.5-275 (254-352)/t FOB,
• 4 (1) batches of French wheat at a price of $271-275 (281-303)/t FOB,
• 2 (5) batches of Ukrainian wheat at a price of $263 (244-302)/t FOB,
• 3 (3) batches of Bulgarian wheat at a price of $264-279 (250-280)/t FOB.

The cheapest offer was Ukrainian wheat with a price of $263/t FOB, which was $19/t higher than the minimum price offered at the previous tender on August 12. Russian companies increased the number of applications and returned to the practice of wheat offers at the agreed price of $265/ton.

Thanks to lower freight rates, GASC bought 290,000 t of wheat due in 270 days at an average price of $257.46/t FOB or $274.82/t C&F (which is $8.97/t higher than the August 12 trading price), and exactly:

• 120 thousand tons of Ukrainian wheat from the LDC company with delivery on December 6-15 at a price of $252.5 (241)/t FOB + $22.75 (28.25)/t freight = $275.25 (269.25)/ t C&F,
• 120,000 tons of Romanian wheat from Viterra and Olam for delivery on December 6-15 at a price of $260.66/t FOB + $14.64/t freight = $275.30/t C&F,
• 50 thousand tons of Bulgarian wheat from Buildcom for delivery from November 25 to December 5 at a price of $261 (243.74)/t FOB + $12 (16.99)/t freight = $273 (260.74)/t C&F .

It will be recalled that GASC purchased the following batches of wheat at previous tenders:

• August 12 – 280,000 tons of wheat with payment in 270 days at an average price of $242.1/t FOB or $265.85/t C&F,
• July 16 - 770 thousand tons of Russian and Bulgarian wheat with delivery on September 11-30 and immediate payment at an average price of $221/t FOB or $241.07/t C&F,
• June 25 – 470 thousand tons of Romanian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Russian wheat with delivery from August 21 to September 10 and payment immediately after delivery at an average price of $246.59/t C&F,
• June 11 – 460,000 tons of European wheat with delivery August 1-20 and payment after delivery at an average price of $268.83/t C&F,
• June 4 – 470,000 t of European wheat for July 5-25 delivery and payment in 270 days at an average price of $302.2/t C&F.