(Adds C&F)
CAIRO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Egypt's state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC,) on Thursday received a lowest offer of $261 a tonne for 55,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in an international purchase tender, traders said.
The offer was presented by GTCS.
GASC is seeking an unspecified quantity of wheat for shipment Jan 20-31.
At its last wheat tender on Nov. 5, GASC bought 300,000 tonnes of Russian grain.
Egypt is looking to maintain strategic reserves of about 6 months in the face of uncertainty over global supply because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The finance ministry on Wednesday said it would be paying the value-added tax on the freight of imported wheat cargoes until the government ammends the law to remove those charges. said exempting the freight from the VAT could help to lower the overall cost of importing grain at a time when prices have soared.
Traders said the following were the offers presented at the tender in dollars per tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis:
Supplier
Quantity
Origin
FOB GTCS
55,000
Russian
$261.00 Soufflet
60,000
French
$269.75 Ameropa
60,000
Romanian
$268.79 Posco
60,000
Russian
$262.80 LDC
60,000
Ukrainian $270.07 ADM
55,000
Russian
$265.50 Nibulon
60,000
Ukranian
$264.70 Solaris
60,000
Russian
$267.45 Grain
60,000
Russian
$264.00 Export
Cargill
55,000
Russian
$266.00 Glencore (LON:GLEN)
55,000
Russian
$270.86 Agro AST
60,000
Russian
$262.90
Traders said the following were the best offers including cost and freight:
Supplier Quantity Origin FOB
Freight C&F GTCS
55,000
RUSS
$261.00 $13.83 $274.83 Posco
60,000
RUSS
$262.80 $12.89 $275.69 Agro AST 60,000
RUSS
$262.90 $12.89 $275.79 Grain
60,000
RUSS
$264.00 $12.89 $276.89 Export
Nibulon 60,000
UKR
$264.70 $12.90 $277.60 ADM
55,000
RUSS
$265.50 $13.85 $279.35
No purchase has yet been made but results are expected later on Thursday.