The lowest offer for wheat presented at Egyptian state grain buyer GASC's international purchase tender on Tuesday was $243 a tonne for 60,000 tonnes of U.S. soft red wheat on a free on board (FOB) basis, traders said. The offer was presented by Cargill. GASC is seeking an unspecified amount of wheat for shipping March 11-20 in its first wheat tender since changing its payment terms to an on sight basis after securing a $3 billion loan from the Islamic Trade Finance Corporation. The state buyer's letters of credit - banking guarantees for on-time payment from a buyer to a seller - were typically issued prior to shipment, with payment guaranteed within 180 days. The supply ministry said last week that it expected the new payment to lower the prices of wheat on offer. However, Russian wheat export prices rose last week, due to a stronger rouble and seasonally lower supply, meaning the anticipated effect of the payment measures may not be immediately noticeable. “The tender in Egypt today will be some of the kind of test for our competitiveness,” Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Russian Grain Union, a non-government lobby group, told reporters in Moscow on Tuesday. The growth in Russian domestic wheat prices in recent weeks is likely to reduce trade margin and export supplies from Russia, he added. The results are expected later on Tuesday.
