March 10, 2005

Syria sells 100,000 tonnes of soft wheat to Egyptian company

Syria's General Establishment for Cereal Processing and Trade, or Hoboob, on Wednesday said it has sold 100,000 tonnes of soft wheat outside its tender process to an Egyptian state company at an undisclosed price.

"We sold the wheat to El-Nasr (Import and Export Co.) but we don't want to disclose the price until the letter of credit is opened," said senior importer Adnan Ramadan.

El-Nasr Import and Export Co. is a state-run company and the sale comes on the heels of a recent visit by a delegation of Hoboob officials to Cairo.

Ramadan said the wheat would be shipped to Egypt from March to June.

Last week, Hoboob cancelled its tender to sell 50,000 tonnes of soft wheat but was negotiating to sell 50,000 tonnes of durum to a German company.

Hoboob was tendering to sell 50,000 tonnes of durum wheat and 50,000 tonnes of soft wheat on a free-on-board basis for Feb. 20-April 4 shipment.