Turkey gets offers in tender to buy 395,000 tonnes wheat -trade

The lowest price in the first round of offers in the tender from Turkey’s state grain board TMO to purchase around 395,000 tonnes of milling wheat on Wednesday was believed to be $297.50 a tonne c&f, traders said in initial assessments.

The offer was believed to have been made for 25,000 tonnes by trading house Avere for shipment to the port of Derince, they said.

No purchase has yet been made and talks continue, traders said. The TMO traditionally goes into several rounds of negotiations in its tenders seeking lower prices than initial offers.

Wheat shipment is sought between Sept. 16 and Sept. 30 to a series of Turkish ports.

The lowest price was followed by offers, all per tonne c&f, for shipment to other ports including $310.00 to Iskenderun, $302.50 to Mersin, $313.28 to Izmir, $302.00 to Bandirma, $301.00 to Tekirdag, $298.68 to Samsun, $304.87 to Trabzon and $303.87 to Karasu.

Some offers were made using local supplies from warehouses in Turkey.

The tender continues an active period of grain importing by Turkey to maintain local supplies. Traders fear dry weather this summer will cut Turkey’s cereals harvest.

But the TMO on Tuesday cancelled a tender for animal feed barley after provisionally awarding 515,000 tonnes as prices were too high.

In its last reported wheat tender on July 13, the TMO bought 395,000 tonnes at the lowest price of $253.88 a tonne c&f.

Prices in the Black Sea region have risen sharply in recent weeks largely on fears about crop damage in Russia.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Michael Hogan, editing by Louise Heavens)