HAMBURG/PARIS: Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC is believed to have bought around 660,000 tons of optional-origin milling wheat in an import tender on Tuesday, European traders said.
OAIC was thought to have paid about $384 a ton, cost and freight included, for the entire volume, in line with the price cited earlier by traders in initial assessments.
The tender was understood to be finished, but further assessments of prices and volume were still possible, traders said.
Algeria, one of the world’s largest wheat importers, does not release details of its tenders and reported results reflect trade estimates.
Tuesday’s tender requested shipment from main supply regions, including Europe, in the following periods: Sept. 21-30, Oct. 1-15 and Oct. 16-31. If sourced from South America or Australia, shipment is one month earlier.
A rebound in Euronext wheat futures in late trading on Tuesday suggested that exporters had hedged initial sales in the tender and were planning to source the wheat from France or elsewhere in the European Union, traders added.
In its previous milling wheat tender at the end of June, OAIC was estimated to have booked about 740,000 tons at $445 a ton c&f.
Other wheat importers have issued tenders this week, encouraged by an easing in international prices partly linked to the resumption of grain exports from Odesa port under an agreement to allow sea trade from war-torn Ukraine.
