CAIRO: Egyptian Traders Co has paid back $9.6 million it received from Egypt's state wheat buyer for a shipment of Russian grain that it has been ordered to re-export over quality concerns, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. Wheat shipments from Russia have been under intense scrutiny in the most populous Arab country since May when the prosecutor ordered a quality investigation after dead bugs and impurities were detected in some wheat imported by Egyptian Traders. Egypt, one of the world's top wheat importers, suspended all grain contracts with the firm after the prosecutor ordered the re-export of a quarantined shipment and told Egyptian Traders to repay $9.6 million to Egypt's main state wheat buyer. "Egyptian Traders has paid back the value of the Russian wheat shipment of $9.6 million to the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), an Egyptian official was quoted as saying by the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. Egyptian Traders, a private company, could not immediately be reached for comment. The newspaper said Egyptian Traders was working with GASC in gathering the shipment of about 52,000 tons of wheat for re-export from silos where it is now stored. Over 100,000 tons of Russian wheat imported by various suppliers both from Egypt and abroad has been held in ports in Egypt since the start of the row in May, sources in Egypt said. The Russian Grain Union has called the seizures of Russian wheat provocative and an attempt to lower prices.
