26 Mar 2021
HAMBURG: The Ethiopian government has issued a new international tender to buy about 400,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said on Thursday.
The deadline for submission of price offers in the tender is April 20 and offers must remain valid for 30 days.
Ethiopia is struggling with the impact of drought which has devastated farms in some regions. Crops in Ethiopia and elsewhere in East Africa are also suffering from swarms of locusts.
But Ethiopia has struggled to buy wheat in international markets in recent months.
In January, the Ethiopian government cancelled deals to purchase about 600,000 tonnes of wheat agreed in international tenders in November 2020 because of contractual disagreements.
“Ethiopian tenders have followed the repeated pattern that small companies which are not known in the market offer much lower prices than the mainstream trading houses and win the tender,” a European trader said.
“But then they have not been able to deliver.”
The new wheat tender said Ethiopia intends to buy the 400,000 tonnes from at least two suppliers. Tender participants must also provide a description of their company’s experience and ability to supply large volumes of wheat along with details of its financial standing.
Participants must also show that they have successfully completed a contract to supply at least $10 million of wheat in the last five years.
