Australian wheat exports for 2004 had been boosted by near-record sales to Egypt, a longstanding customer and one of the biggest wheat importers in the world, AWB Ltd said on Wednesday.
Australia had so far sold 2.1 million tonnes of wheat to Egypt from the latest crop of a record 25 million tonnes, monopoly exporter AWB said in a statement.
The sales were worth about A$500 million ($379 million) and represented the largest annual sales programme to Egypt for more than 15 years.
Exports were for delivery from December 2003 forward and AWB had already shipped more than 1.3 million tonnes, Managing Director Andrew Lindberg said.
"The sales to Egypt form a key part of our well advanced sales and marketing programme," he said. AWB had maximised its opportunities in a very competitive market, especially for soft white wheat.
The sales had produced significant immediate value for AWB's national export pool and potentially saved millions of dollars in carry charges alone, he added.
Australian sales were mainly of wheat grades, which produced bright white flour, but also included about 500,000 tones of hard wheat.
Egypt is one of the world's largest wheat buyers, importing six million tonnes to seven million tonnes a year.
Demand from Egypt was likely to be higher than average this season because of local milling requirements. AWB was well positioned to capitalise on further demand opportunities, Lindberg said.