HAMBURG: The lowest price offered in the first round of a tender from Turkey's state grain board TMO to buy 235,000 tonnes of animal feed corn on Thursday was believed to be $271.75 a tonne c&f, traders said in initial assessments.

The offer was said to have been submitted by trading house Cofco for 25,000 tonnes for shipment to the port of Tekirdag.

No purchase has yet been reported, they said. The TMO traditionally undertakes several rounds of negotiations in tenders, seeking lower offers each round.

The corn is sought for shipment between Feb. 19 and March 15 for unloading in six Turkish ports in a series of consignments. Lowest price offered for shipment to the port of Derince was said to be $274.71 a tonne c&f, lowest to Iskenderun was $274.86 a tonne c&f, to Izmir $286.70 a tonne c&f, to Bandirma $272.75 a tonne c&f and the lowest to Samsun was $277.00 a tonne c&f.