Egypt’s state grains buyer GASC purchased about 63,000 tonnes of German-origin wheat in a direct deal this week, sources said on Thursday.
It was believed the purchase was made on July 5, continuing recent buying by GASC without international tenders being issued.
GASC is also believed to have bought around 444,000 tonnes of wheat directly from trading houses on Monday.
Traders said the German sale was believed to involve a shipload of old crop wheat for prompt shipment.
Unconfirmed market talk was of a price at around $420 c&f from Germany. This would be above the $416 a tonne c&f reportedly paid by GASC in direct purchases of French, Russian and Romanian wheat on Monday.
“Perhaps Egypt wants to have a closer look at German wheat as GASC has rarely bought from Germany in recent years,” one trader said.
“But GASC seems to be taking its new strategy of direct purchases without tenders very intensively.”
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sarah El Safty in Cairo and Michael Hogan in Hamburg, additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris, editing by Jason Neely)
