GASC back in the market as ergot issue lingers

Egypt’s GASC returned to the market Thursday, looking for wheat for shipment January 1-10.

Russian-origin wheat again looks to be the most competitive, having accounted for over 80% of Egypt’s 3.61 million mt it has bought at tender in the current marketing year.

At its previous tender which closed on November 8, GASC bought 120,000 mt of Russian-origin wheat for shipment December 15-30 at $210/mt CFR.

Today’s tender comes amid uncertainty surrounding Egypt’s phytosanitary import requirements, with a court order earlier this week overruling a previous order from the prime minister’s office.

While the ministry of supply moved yesterday to allay fears of last year’s ergot scandal, uncertainty remains.

In 2016, a protracted debate saw several vessels denied entry into Egypt over trace presence of the fungus ergot.

The dispute, which stemmed from a dispute between different departments of the Egyptian government, led to costly delays and saw a significant risk premium applied to sales to the world’s biggest wheat importer.