June 24, 2010

Tests carried out by Egypt's Health Ministry showed a Russian wheat shipment held in Alexandria was not fit for consumption and would be re-exported.

Egypt's official news agency MENA said on Tuesday (Jun 22) the public prosecutor in Alexandria had ordered the wheat returned. A prosecution source said the cargo weighed 3,110 tonnes.

Quarantine officials in Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer, stepped up wheat inspections last year after a dispute erupted with local wheat importing company Egyptian Traders over the quality of two Russian wheat cargoes.

Nomani Nomani, the vice president of the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) which has bought several cargoes of Russian wheat since then, said the cargo in question was owned by a private importer, not the state buyer.

"Results of tests carried out by the Health Ministry on the cargo of Russian wheat that was recently held in Alexandria confirmed it was spoiled and not fit for human consumption because it contained a large number of live insects," MENA said. The report described bugs in the shipment as weevils.

After last year's row over wheat, Egypt said in December it was looking to increase Russian wheat imports and to attract Russian investment to build silos.

Egypt's GASC has bought several cargoes of Russian wheat at international tender since the start of the year, including three 60,000-tonne cargoes in June.