Egypt purchases wheat at record-high prices of over USD 250 a tonne in Thursday tender: The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) purchased 240k tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat in an international tender on Wednesday at record high prices of over USD 250 a tonne, traders tell Reuters. The steeper offers came from Russia’s GTCS and Romania’s Ameropa for 60,000 tonnes each at USD 254.46 and USD 253.56 a tonne, respectively, including shipping costs. GASC also purchased 60,000 tonnes each from Russia’s Posco Daewoo at USD 253.25 a tonne, and Russia’s Aston at USD 251.96 a tonne. The wheat is scheduled for 11-20 September delivery.

Wheat prices spiked last week to a three-year high before dropping again, after Ukraine hinted at the possibility of setting export limits as a way of mitigating the impact of a drought in Europe and the Black Sea region, Bloomberg said. Egypt had made its most expensive wheat purchase since 2015 late last month, paying an average USD 235.65 per tonne. Wheat prices are expected to climb even higher as Russian production falls for the first time in six years and as crops in France, Germany and the Baltic countries also get smaller. Egypt also faces the risk of attracting fewer offers for its tenders Dutch lender ING Groep reportedly decided to halt lending for wheat shipments sold to GASC, citing late payments as the reason.