January 30, 2012

 

 

Egypt rejected four cargoes of purchased Kazakh wheat this season after GASC found one cargo contained with unauthorised seeds for entry.

 

GASC refused one Kazakh wheat cargo at the port of origin in November due to the presence of the seeds and then allowed the seller to switch the three others to Russian wheat, Nomani Nomani told Reuters.

 

The rejection was solely due to the unauthorized seeds and not because of the quality of Kazakh wheat which remained on GASC's list of approved origins, he said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual congress of French farm cooperatives group InVivo.

 

"The refusal was not a rejection of the wheat quality but of some seed components not of GASC standard," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

 

The rejection of the cargo and the switching of three others to Russian wheat had contributed to an easing in Kazakh prices and a rise in Russian prices, he said.

 

Regarding market speculation, Russia could impose grain export duties later this season as Nomani said there is no indication from the Russian authorities on such move.

 

GASC remained opposed to Russia using export restrictions, whether in the form of duties or an outright ban, he said, arguing this "would lead to a lack of faith in the Russian origin."

 

The Russian government has said it would consider grain export duties if volumes this season reached a ceiling of 23-25 million tonnes, but this week said it was not looking at any measures.

 

GASC was satisfied with increasing competition in its tenders after French wheat became price-attractive in recent weeks and it also expected to see offers of US and Australian wheat in coming tenders, he said.

 

The agency expects to buy another 500,000 tonnes of wheat from now till the end of June, having already purchased over 4 million tonnes since July 1, he said.

 

Russia has claimed the bulk of GASC's purchases this season, with the rest coming from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Romania, France and Argentina, as it offered large volumes of attractively priced wheat early in the season after ending a year-long ban on grain exports following a drought last year.

 

There has also been market talk on Russian wheat from Siberia, where stocks are more abundant than the southern regions near Black Sea ports which did not meet GASC specifications because of oat grass content.

 

Nomani said there had been no quality problems with Russian wheat this season.