Egypt's GASC bought a large batch of Russian wheat at a price of $23.2/t higher than in April

The Egyptian GASC held an international tender for the purchase of flour wheat on May 8, where it purchased a large lot with payment in 270 days, but at a price higher than in previous auctions.

The number of tender applications for Russian and French wheat increased, and the prices of offers increased by $20-38/t to the level of January 2024, but Ukrainian wheat did not participate in the tender.

The following proposals were submitted to the tender (all with payment after 270 days):

• 12 (10 at the auction on April 16) batches of Russian wheat at a price of $255 (235)/t FOB,
• 5 (4) batches of French wheat at a price of $266-271 (243-247)/t FOB,
• 2 (2) batches of Bulgarian wheat at a price of $273.49 (246.5-278.88)/t FOB,
• 1 (1) batch of Romanian wheat at a price of $278 (240.6)/t FOB.

As a result, GASC purchased 420,000 tons of flour wheat with delivery on June 7-28 and payment 270 days after the opening of the letter of credit at an average price of $279.22/t C&F (which is $23.24/t higher than the purchase price at the April 16 auction). , in particular:

• 360,000 tons of Russian wheat from ME Solaris Commodities, Cereal Crops Trading, Aston Agro, Industrial Graim Star, Viterra at a price of $255/t FOB + $24.6/t freight = $279.6/t C&F,
• 60 thousand tons of Romanian wheat from AMS Ameropa at a price of $259.5/t FOB + $19.8/t freight = $279.3/t C&F.

We will remind that GASC purchased the following batches of food wheat at previous tenders:

• April 16 – 120,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat with delivery on May 20-30 and payment 270 days after the opening of the letter of credit at an average price of $255.98/t C&F,
• March 20 – 120,000 tons of Bulgarian and Romanian wheat with delivery on May 20-30 and payment in 270 days at an average price of $253.27/t C&F,
• February 15 – 120,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat at a price of $218.1/t FOB + $36.9/t freight = $255/t C&F and 60,000 tons of Romanian wheat at a price of $237.4/t FOB + 17.6 $/t freight = $255/t C&F with payment in 270 days,
• January 17 – 360,000 tons of wheat for delivery on March 15-30 at an average price of $285.48/t C&F,
• January 9 – 420,000 tons of mostly Russian wheat for delivery February 29-March 11 at an average price of $285.05/t C&F and payment in 270 days,
• December 19 – 480,000 tons of Russian wheat for delivery in February at a price of $265/t FOB + $22.4/t freight = $287.4/t C&F with payment in 270 days,
• December 5 – 180,000 tons of wheat at a price of $275.17/t C&F.

It is surprising that GASC buys small batches of wheat during a decrease in world prices, and large batches during the period of their growth, especially Russian wheat.