French wheat has, after a break of nearly two months, won a place on an Egyptian grain order – but only after surrendering its typical premium to Black Sea grain.

Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer, said it had after its latest tender bought 60,000 tonnes of French wheat as part of a 240,000-tonne order.

The French grain, the first two win at an Egyptian tender sheet since December, was offered by merchant Glencore at $173.90 a tonne, $1 a tonne cheaper than the Kazakh and Russia wheat which also made it onto the order sheet.

Typically, French wheat has attracted a premium over Russian grain, going for $0.95 a tonne more in December and $2.15-5.50 a tonne in November tenders, despite the higher freight costs involved in getting grain to Egypt from France than from Black Sea ports.

Logistical issue 

However, Egypt has in recent months developed links with Kazakhstan, which is improving its transport links to improve its success in international markets, and Russia, with which Cairo has discussed fixed supply contracts.

Furthermore, France has been placed at a disadvantage by the inability of its main grain port, Rouen, to accommodate the so-called Panamax vessels capable of handling the 60,000-tonne loads Egypt is now insisting on.

Glencore's offer was for one 60,000-tonne shipment, although it was unclear at which port the grain would be loaded.

'Aggressive' price 

The pricing of Glencore's bid, which offered a 10% reduction to the winning French offer in December, reflected logistical issues as well as a declining global wheat market, an analyst told Agrimoney.com.

"It's not a seller's market."

The analyst added: "Generally you think of French grain being of better quality, but Russian grain can be of similar quality if it is screened properly."