HAMBURG- Turkey's state grain board TMO has provisionally bought about 385,000 tonnes of milling wheat in an international tender which closed on Thursday, traders said.

No more purchases are expected on Thursday, traders said. The tonnages purchased are provisional and subject to final confirmation in the coming days.

Purchases can be reduced or cancelled completely.

The tender sought wheat with 12.5% and 13.5% protein content for shipment to several Turkish ports between Jan. 10 and Jan. 31.

Some wheat is being offered from warehouses in Turkey. Traders said some export houses had been shipping Russian wheat into Turkey in advance of actual sales to escape repeated increases in Russian export taxes. 

Traders reported the following provisional purchases, showing port of delivery, tonnes sold, protein content, seller, price in dollars a tonne c&f and whether the wheat is coming from warehouse supplies already in Turkey: Port Volume Protein Seller Price If warehouse Iskenderun 25,000 13.5% Aston $381.79 warehouse Iskenderun 25,000 13.5% Grainstar $381.69 warehouse Mersin 25,000 12.5% Yayla $379.90 warehouse Mersin 25,000 13.5% Aston $384.00 warehouse Izmir 25,000 12.5% Yayla $387.40 warehouse Izmir 25,000 12.5% Yayla $385.80 Derince 50,000 12.5% Cargill $381.90 Band?rma 50,000 13.5% GTCS $390.90 Tekirdag 25,000 13.5% Aston $380.00 warehouse Tekirdag 25,000 12.5% Aston $376.00 warehouse Samsun 25,000 13.5% Yayla $387.70 warehouse Samsun 25,000 12.5% Rolweg $383.60 warehouse Karasu 25,000 13.5% GTCS $394.90 Trabzon 10,000 13.5% GTCS $390.80

Sales not marked as "warehouse" will be imported.

The tender continues an active period of grain imports by Turkey to cool local prices and secure domestic supplies after the country’s cereals crop was hit by drought, traders said.

In its previous wheat tender on Oct. 21, the TMO purchased an estimated 300,000 tonnes at a lowest price of $338.68 a tonne c&f.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by David Goodman and Edmund Blair) ((michael.j.hogan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 172 671 36 54; Reuters Messaging: michael.hogan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))