Egypt's state grain buyer GASC received four offers from suppliers at its international wheat purchase tender on Thursday after amending some of the terms, traders said.
Earlier suppliers had been holding off on making offers, saying they needed more guarantees that the country's import authorities would tolerate negligible levels of the ergot fungus in their cargoes.
"There was an amendment made so that final inspection of the wheat would be at the load port and that is much better than what it was before," one Cairo-based trader said.
The offers were made by Louis Dreyfus, Olam, Union and Aston, they said.
Traders said the following offers were made in dollars per tonne free-on-board:
*Louis Dreyfus: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $189
*Union: Three cargoes, each of 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $178.78
*Olam: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $187.79
*Aston: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $179
Traders also said they estimated the lowest cost and freight prices (C&F) in dollars per tonne as follows:
*Aston: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $179 FOB and $7.80 freight, equating to $186.80 C&F
*Union: Three cargoes, each of 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $178.78 FOB and $8.43 freight, equating to $187.21 C&F
*Olam: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $187.79 FOB and $8.98 freight, equating to $196.77 C&F
*Louis Dreyfus: 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at $189 FOB and $8.98 freight, equating to $197.98 C&F
(Reporting By Maha El Dahan and Eric Knecht; additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Valerie Parent in Paris)
