CAIRO - The Egyptian state's main wheat buying agency said on Wednesday it wanted to buy cargoes of 55,000 to 60,000 tonnes of hard and soft wheat for shipment February 11-20. Nomani Nomani, vice chairman of Egypt's General Authority for Supply Commodities, said he was seeking offers for 55,000-tonne cargoes of hard red winter wheat from the United States and 60,000-tonnes cargoes of hard Canadian and hard Australian wheat. GASC also sought offers for 55,000-tonne cargoes of soft white wheat from the United States and offers for 60,000-tonne cargoes of soft and/or milling wheat from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Britain, Australia and Argentina. Tenders should reach GASC by noon local time (1000 GMT) on Thursday. Results should be published around 2 p.m. the same day. Wheat bids should be free-on-board, with a separate freight offer. Results will also be published on GASC's website (www.gasc.gov.eg), Nomani said. The tenders excluded wheat from the Black Sea region, where drought has sharply reduced crops and prompted a grain export ban by Russia, the region's top wheat exporter and the largest supplier of wheat to Egypt last year. In its latest international purchase, on December 1, GASC bought 55,000 tonnes of US soft red winter wheat and 165,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat for shipment February 1-10.
