CAIRO  - Egypt's state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), set a tender on Thursday to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from global suppliers for shipment Aug. 1-10.

GASC Vice Chairman Ahmed Youssef said the authority was seeking to buy cargoes of soft and/or milling wheat from the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Poland, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Paraguay and Serbia.

Tenders should reach GASC by noon (1000 GMT) on Tuesday, April 6, and must remain valid for 24 hours. Wheat bids should be free on board, with a separate freight offer. GASC said it will pay for the grain with "at sight" letters of credit.

Traders said the tender was "unprecedented," both in terms of the advanced shipment date and the terms of the announcement, as GASC typically sets tenders the night before it hopes to receive offers.

One trader also highlighted that it was unusual for the buyer to tap the international market so soon before the local crop was due on April 15.

In its last wheat tender on March 11, GASC bought 360,000 tonnes of Romanian wheat for shipment April 15-25. After the purchase, the supply ministry said Egypt had enough strategic wheat reserves for five months.  

For the current tender, GASC is seeking to buy 55,000- to 60,000-tonne cargoes of the following:

 

U.S. North Pacific soft white wheat;

U.S. hard red winter wheat;

U.S. soft red winter wheat;

Russian milling wheat;

Ukrainian milling wheat, and

Australian standard white wheat.

 

GASC is also seeking 60,000-tonne cargoes of the following:

Canadian soft wheat;

French milling wheat;

German milling wheat;

Argentine bread wheat;

Polish milling wheat;

Kazakh milling wheat;

Romanian milling wheat;

Bulgarian milling wheat;

Serbian milling wheat;

Hungarian milling wheat, and

Paraguayan milling wheat.

(Reporting by Nadine Awadalla in Cairo, writing by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago, editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis) ((Julie.ingwersen@thomsonreuters.com; 1-313-484-5283; Reuters Messaging: julie.ingwersen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))