Algeria’s OAIC tenders for April-May shipment wheat

Algeria’s state grain importer OAIC has issued a tender for optional origin milling wheat for April-May shipment, traders have told Agricensus Monday.

The state buyer – which usually buys more than the nominal 50,000 mt it tenders for, is looking for May shipment wheat if the grain is sourced from the EU, USA or Canada, or April if sourced from South America or Australia.

The tender is set to close on Wednesday, March 31, with offers needing to remain valid for a further 24 hours.

At its previous tender, which closed March 10, OAIC is thought to have booked around 480,000 mt of milling wheat for March-April shipment paying on average $323/mt CFR.

Algeria’s wheat imports are expected to fall 9% to 6.5 million mt in the 2020/21 marketing year as the country tries to reduce its dependence on imported wheat and encourage domestic production, according to a USDA forecast.

Imports in the 2021/22 marketing year are expected to decline another 23% to 5 million mt.

For more information on Algeria’s previous buying, please see our Tender Dashboard.