Summary Egypt seeking cheaper wheat amid dollar crunchRussia blocked deal that undercut price floor- tradersCAIRO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Egypt is in talks with an Abu Dhabi-based bank for a loan facility that would finance wheat purchases from Kazakhstan, three traders told Reuters.
The move could give Egypt a cheap alternative to grain from Russia, which has supplied an increasing share of Egypt's wheat since last year but recently blocked a deal for a purchase below an unofficial price floor for wheat purchases, traders say.
Russia's agriculture ministry recently prevented the private sale of 480,000 tons of Russian wheat to Egypt, apparently because it was sold below the price floor, traders told Reuters.
Kazakhstan is already an approved wheat import origin for Egypt, but purchases from the Central Asian country are rare.
The Egyptian government recently signed a $500 million loan agreement with the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) to buy imported wheat from UAE-based agribusiness Al Dahra.
Persons:
Abu, GASC, Sarah El Safty, Michael Hogan, Aidan Lewis, Mark Potter
Organizations:
Reuters, General Authority for Supply Commodities, Central, Abu, Abu Dhabi Exports Office, Thomson
Locations:
Egypt, Russia, CAIRO, Abu Dhabi, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, France, Bulgaria, UAE