Algeria's state grains agency OAIC has issued a tender to buy 50,000 tonnes of milling wheat, traders said on Monday. The bidding deadline is Wednesday, while shipment periods are open to negotiation and the grain can be from any origin. Algeria has recently established the pattern of issuing a nominal tender for 50,000 tonnes and then starting long negotiations with exporters. "It is always impossible to say what Algeria will buy," one trader said. "It could be a huge amount more, it may even be less."
Traders did not expect a result this week.
In its last tender purchases in December, Algeria bought 300,000 tonnes of milling wheat at around $164 a tonne C&F, with a large proportion thought to have come from Argentina.