Egypt's state-owned wheat buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), will start a visit to Ukraine on Sunday as it prepares to add the country as a source in tenders, the firm's vice chairman said on Thursday. "We will research some issues with the government and agricultural unions there to see the specifications as a preparatory step to add Ukraine as one of the Black Sea origins on our list," Nomani Nomani told Reuters by telephone. Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, removed Ukraine from the origins permitted in its purchase tenders in late 2008 following a series of disputes about quality. In one of GASC's previous tenders on Sept. 22, Venus offered 60,000 tonnes of Ukraine wheat at $260 a tonne on a free-on-board basis. GASC said the offer was disqualified as it had not yet asked for that origin.
