The first shipment from Egypt’s purchase of 430,000 metric tons of Russian wheat began loading on Saturday, following a nearly three-month delay, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The shipment, consisting of 63,000 tons, has so far loaded 17,650 tons from the Novorossiysk Grain Processing Plant in Russia that is part of the OZK Group, which also controls the terminal. Demetra Grain Holding is also a major shareholder in the terminal.
The shipment is expected to depart the port this week to arrive in Egypt before the end of the year, the sources said.
Egypt's Ministry of Supply did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Ministry of Supply in September said it had secured the wheat through a direct purchase at $235 per ton, in a shift from the international tenders it traditionally uses to procure supplies.
Details of the supplier and payment terms were not disclosed. Sources told Reuters it was not linked to the Air Force-affiliated Mostakbal Misr, which recently assumed responsibility for importing Egypt’s strategic commodities, taking over from the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC).
Egypt, one of the world's biggest wheat importers, has been trying to take advantage of lower global prices to secure more grain, which it uses for subsidised bread for tens of millions of Egyptians.
Reuters reported in August that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered GASC's biggest ever tender in August, seeking more than half of GASC's needs at once. But GASC only managed to secure 7% of its target due to higher than expected prices.
GASC then engaged in direct negotiations with suppliers and after weeks of talks, the Ministry of Supply said it had contracted 430,000 tons of Russian wheat for October shipping. But the shipments were delayed, first to November and then to December.
(Reuters - Reporting by Mohamed Ezz and Olga Popova; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jane Merriman)
