Egypt's state-owned buyer General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) has booked around 480,000 metric tons of Russian wheat, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 10 citing anonymous traders.
The deal amounts to eight cargoes and accounts for 4% of Egypt’s annual wheat imports.
The wheat is expected to be shipped in November and December, the traders said.
It comes after reports that Cairo was close to making an agreement with Russia’s United Grain Co. (OZK) for 1 million metric tons of wheat at the end of September. The Russian government owns a majority stake in OZK.
OZK told Bloomberg that it did not have information on commercial shipments outside public tenders.
One of the world's leading grain buyers, Egypt imported 62.6 million metric tons between 2017 and 2021, with 59.7% coming from Russia and 22.3% from Ukraine.
Russia's termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17 and attacks against Ukraine's ports continue to hamper Kyiv's grain exports. Moscow is seeking to replace Ukraine's agricultural products on the global markets with its own supplies.
Moscow prevented the sale of 480,000 metric tons of wheat to Egypt last month as the price was said to be below Russia’s unofficial price floor, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 20.
Egypt has enjoyed cheap Russian wheat following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Moscow has been raising prices recently.
The Russian government implemented the price floor in an attempt to control domestic wheat prices.
Igor Kossov
