June 11, 2009
Egypt orders seizure of Ukrainian corn over quality issue
Egypt's prosecutor has ordered the seizure of 61,000 tonnes of Ukrainian corn at a northern Mediterranean coast port over quality issues.
Initial testing of the shipment found seeds in the corn.
Egypt had quarantined 11,000 tonnes of Ukrainian and Australian wheat over quality concerns last week, following the detection of dead bugs and impurities in Russian wheat imports.
But Serhiy Feofilov, director of Ukrainian agricultural consultancy UkrAgroConsult, said the seizure is a dispute in the price on the Egyptian side, not quality.
So far in the 2008-09 year, Ukraine has exported 923,901 tonnes of corn to Egypt, according to UkrAgroConsult data.
Feofilov said if the grain doesn't suit the Egyptians, it can be shipped to other markets with ease.
