Egypt's purchase of 55,000 tonnes of sugar was non-tender deal

The purchase of 55,000 tonnes of sugar by Egypt's state commodity buyer GASC on Monday was a direct, non-tender deal, traders said on Tuesday. GASC, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said on Monday had bought the white sugar for delivery between January 7 and January 20. Dealers said on Tuesday the purchase was made in Egyptian pounds from Multitrade/ED&F Man. No price was available.
"This was direct purchasing without a tender being issued," one European trader said. "We did not know anything about it before it was reported on Reuters." GASC was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday. GASC had cancelled to previous international tenders to buy 55,000 tonnes of white sugar on December 10 and December 21. Traders said that only one supplier submitted an offer in each of the cancelled tenders. "One offer is not sufficient to constitute a tender and GASC has been struggling to attract more offers," another European trader said. "I suspect a decision was made to undertake a direct, non-tender purchase."