Egypt extends high-moisture wheat exemption for one year

Egypt will accept higher moisture levels in government tenders to buy wheat for one year after an initial exemption expires at the end of August, its supply minister said on Thursday.

The decision was taken to ensure Egypt had a variety of origins from which to import wheat, Khaled Hanafi said.

Egypt, one of the world's largest wheat importers, had been accepting French wheat with a moisture level of up to 13.5 percent in its tenders with a penalty paid by traders.

Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), began accepting wheat with more moisture a year ago, having previously set a 13 percent limit.

France is one of Egypt's most important wheat suppliers but had struggled to meet the more stringent moisture limits imposed by GASC before the exemption.

"The request for the exemption to be extended was made by the French side," Francois Gatel, director of export lobby France Export Cereales, told Reuters.