Russia sold around 250,000 tons of wheat in the latest Algerian tender, Yulya Korolyova, head of the Russian state grain quality service, said at a conference in Geneva yesterday, confirming earlier estimates by traders.
Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, has been campaigning for years to gain access to the Algerian market, which has traditionally been dominated by France. Algeria relaxed its insect damage limit in late 2020 and allowed a small number of Russian deliveries in recent months.
"This is an important market and we hope it will continue to grow," Korolyova told the conference, adding that Moscow also sees Saudi Arabia and Jordan as promising markets for its wheat.
Algeria is expected to receive a significant amount of Russian wheat in a tender on the order of 700,000 and 800,000 tons. The country had changed its tendering terms to reduce its reliance on French supplies, European traders said on Wednesday.
The conditions for the last tender showed that the damage limit from insect damage had been increased from 0.5% previously to a maximum of 1%, which aroused expectations for more offers for Russian wheat.
"Russia is finally a supplier," said Oleg Kryukovsky, commercial director of GTCS, at the same conference, referring to the Algerian tender and recent deliveries to Saudi Arabia.
"If there is demand for good quality wheat, Russian wheat will be there," he added.
In its tender this week, the Algerian state grain authority OAIC had requested a delivery in three time periods from the most important delivery regions including Europe: 16.-31. December, 1.-15. January and 16.-31. January.
The Russian wheat sold should be shipped in December, Korolyova said.
Traders had expected Russian sales in the tender to focus on the December shipping period and pointed to the risks of additional Russian export restrictions in early 2022 after the country's agriculture minister issued a position last week.
Source
Hansa Terminhandel GmbH