CAIRO: Egypt's main state wheat buyer set a tender to buy wheat from global suppliers on Wednesday, including Russia in the mix for the first time since Moscow's return to the world export market this summer. The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), one of the world's largest state importers of wheat, sought to buy an unspecified amount of the grain from suppliers including the United States, France, Australia, Britain and Argentina. In the tender, GASC also sought offers from Russia, which lifted on July 1 its nearly year-long ban on wheat exports after a severe drought decimated its wheat crop last year. Last month, GASC vice chairman Nomani Nomani said the agency's purchases of Russian wheat "are postponed until their new harvest is in place." US grain traders expected Russian wheat offered to GASC to be priced competitively, but added that they were waiting to see the quality of the grain being offered. "I'm sure some of it will be cheaper, but there are some questions on quality ... they want to see the prices, which is why I think they included them (Russia)," an export trader said. Tenders should reach GASC by noon local time (1000 GMT) on Thursday and the results should come out around 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) on the same day. Wheat bids should be free-on-board, with a separate freight offer.
