CAIRO  - The lowest offer at Egypt's wheat import tender on Thursday was $216.97 per tonne free-on-board (FOB) for 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat, traders said, amid lower than usual turnout for the world's largest wheat buyer.

State-buyer GASC is seeking the cargos for arrival from April 15-25 and results are expected to be announced later on Thursday.

Egypt said just before the tender that it had strategic wheat reserves to cover its needs for just over three months. 

GASC received just six offers for wheat in the tender from five suppliers, lower than tenders that typically attract about 15 offers.

Traders said the lower turnout came down to rising Black Sea prices at the end of the region's wheat season and ongoing disagreements over demurrage fees and costs associated with lengthy inspection processes at Egyptian ports.

"I think there was less participation because of the rising trend in Black Sea wheat prices. This is cutting margins on Egyptian tenders, and there is a large risk level in the Egyptian market because of the regulatory problems in past months," one Europe-based trader said.

Traders said the following offers were made in dollars per tonne on an FOB basis:

Russian: ADM: 60,000 tonnes at $223.01 Aston: 60,000 tonnes at $216.97 GTCS: 60,000 tonnes at $217

Romanian: ADM: 60,000 tonnes at $218.89 Cerealcom: 60,000 tonnes at $221.49 Ameropa: 60,000 tonnes at $224.29

Traders also said the following were the best cost and freight (C&F) offers presented at the tender:

Aston: 60,000 tonnes Russian at $216.97 FOB and $16.44 freight equating to $233.41 C&F

GTCS: 60,000 tonnes Russian at $217.00 FOB and $16.44 freight equating to $233.44 C&F

ADM: 60,000 tonnes Romanian at $218.89 FOB and $15.30 freight equating to $234.19 C&F

Cerealcom: 60,000 tonnes Romanian at $221.49 FOB and $15.30 freight equating to $236.79 C&F

ADM: 60,000 tonnes Russian at $223.01 FOB and $16.44 freight equating to $239.45 C&F

 

(Reporting by Eric Knecht, Maha El Dahan, Michael Hogan, and Valerie Parent; writing by Nadine Awadalla; editing by Jason Neely and Elaine Hardcastle) ((Nadine.Awadalla@thomsonreuters.com;))