Egypt was forced to cancel its latest tender for wheat after no bids were offered. Wheat suppliers to Egypt boycotted the tender which could push the country closer towards a crisis that threatens Egypt’s grain reserves. Egypt is the world’s biggest purchaser of the commodity that is critical to a bread subsidy used to help feed its citizens. The move by traders to shun Tuesday's tender was prompted by mounting concerns that their shipments would be rejected at the country's ports because of tough new import standards, according to Reuters. The shelved tender comes after a 63,000-ton wheat shipment was rejected this week for containing traces of ergot, a common grains fungus, despite the shipment meeting the .05 percent threshold allowed by the authority's specifications. Traders say it is impossible to guarantee the complete absence of ergot and report the risk is now “too high” of shipments being turned away. The country claims it has enough reserves to last until May, but those reserves include shipments that have yet to arrive, and could also be rejected.
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