GASC wants to buy wheat — but only from European suppliers: State grain buyer the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) issued yesterday a limited tender for an unspecified amount of European wheat, Reuters reported. The tender is open only to European suppliers already accredited in GASC’s tender book, marking the first time in years the authority has launched a limited tender, according to traders cited by Reuters. State wheat tenders are usually open for bids from all 16 accredited import countries.

The details: Suppliers have until the end of tomorrow to submit their bids on either a cost and freight or FOB basis, with the grain set to be shipped in late May or the first half of June.

Among the contenders: Smart money may well be on France, Germany and a handful of eastern European states. France has said it will “stand by Egypt” on wheat and make sure we get what we need if the war in Ukraine drags on. Private sector traders in March secured Egypt’s first shipment of German wheat in years alongside Lithuanian and Bulgarian cargos. Buying more Romanian wheat is also on the table, Internal Trade Development Authority head Ibrahim Ashmawy said back in February.

The tender comes a month sooner than expected: Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy had previously said that Egypt wouldn’t be tapping the international wheat market before the middle of May. The news came after GASC was forced to cancel two tenders as the global wheat trade was upended by the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Egypt’s last international wheat purchase was in mid-February.

Why now? Our wheat reserves are running lower than usual thanks to war in Europe. Egypt currently has enough wheat to cover the next 2.6 months’ worth of consumption, cabinet announced last week, down from the four-month figure announced by the government in early March. We received all our backlogged orders of Russian wheat in March, but blockaded ports mean there’s little to no grain coming out of Ukraine. The two countries together supply more than 80% of our imported wheat in peacetime.

The government remains focused on the local harvest: With global markets in disarray, the Madbouly government has shifted its wheat procurement focus to local sources. The government will spend around EGP 36 bn to purchase 6 mn tons of local wheat this year, roughly doubling its purchase budget from last year.