GASC may suspend NNC’s price advantage on grain shipments: State grain buyer GASC is set to suspend the 15% price advantage currently extended to national shipping line National Navigation Company (NNC) on delivering wheat imports to Egypt, Reuters reports, citing traders in Egypt and Europe. GASC runs shipping tenders parallel with its frequent tenders for wheat imports, but bids have been few and far between as a result of the

advantage given to NNC. One trader told the newswire that “it looks like a move to reduce shipping costs of wheat imports by increasing competition.” GASC has not made any official statement on the move.

The supply crisis has pushed shipping costs sky-high: Maersk, which accounts for around 20% of global shipping and is a general indicator for the state of the industry, told the Financial Times earlier this month that it expects to deliver record bottomline results amid the spike in freight rates, with a return to normality not expected till 2022 at the earliest.

It’s not just shipping — wheat is pricier, too. GASC last week called off a wheat tender as prices offered were higher than expected, marking the fourth time it has canceled a tender in recent months. Average wheat prices have jumped by as much as USD 100 per tonne since the season began amid the squeeze on global commodities, posing a challenge for Egypt as the world’s largest wheat importer.

IN OTHER COMMODITIES NEWS- Egyptian onion exporters stand to benefit from the surge of local prices for the produce in India, which is prompting Indian suppliers to look outside to ensure the popular commodity remains accessible to the population, reports Reuters, quoting Ajit Shah, the president of India’s Onion Exporters’ Association.