Ukrainian grain traders union UGA has asked Algerian grain authorities to ease conditions of its wheat tenders in a move that could boost supplies of Black Sea wheat to the country, the union said.
Ukraine, one of the leading global grain exporters, shipped a total of 200,000 tonnes of wheat to Algeria in the 2020/21 July-June season, accounting for 1.2% of its overall wheat exports.
“Algeria has set tender requirements for wheat imports at a level that the Black Sea region cannot actually meet,” UGA said in a statement.
The union said a relaxation of requirements could relate to the “W” index – the indicator of flour strength – as well as the indicator for insect-damaged kernels.
UGA said the Algerian side had “expressed readiness to discuss possible changes to the tender procedures”.
Ukraine is likely to increase its grain exports to 57 million tonnes in the 2021/22 July-June season from 45.5 million tonnes in 2020/21 thanks to a bigger harvest, analyst APK-Inform said on Wednesday.
The exports are likely to include 21.1 million tonnes of wheat. Last season, the country exported 16.6 million tonnes of wheat.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk Editing by David Goodman)