CAIRO: Egypt s public prosecutor has ordered the re-export of 45,000 tons of Ukrainian and Australian wheat found to be unfit for human consumption, state news agency MENA said on Wednesday. Egypt, the world s top wheat importer, has been locked in a row over grain quality since an investigation was ordered into Russian wheat imported by an Egyptian firm in mid-May. The Ukrainian and Australian wheat will be re-exported from the Mediterranean port of Alexandria after investigations showed a company had imported poor quality wheat, the agency said. The wheat was found to be unfit even after undergoing fumigation and sieving, it added. The shipment was imported by a private company and was not destined for the main state wheat buyer the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), vice chairman Nomani Nomani told Reuters. Egypt had previously ordered the re-export of slightly over 100,000 tons of Russian wheat in June citing poor quality and failure to meet contract terms. In an effort to fix this the Trade Ministry announced new wheat-buying measures, including state quality certificates and higher financial sureties for inspectors on June 23. Egypt had not bought Russian wheat since the start of the dispute, but GASC made its first Russian wheat purchase on July 21 when it booked 60,000 tons from Glencore at the price of $178.05 a ton, free-on-board. Egypt imports around half of its wheat needs and has a bread subsidy program on which the poor depend.
