HAMBURG: Jordan's state grains buyer has issued two international tenders to purchase 150,000 tonnes of wheat and 100,000 tonnes of feed barley, European traders said on Tuesday.
The tender deadline for the wheat is Tuesday, May 21 and for the barley Wednesday, May 22.
Jordan made no purchase in tenders for 150,000 tonnes of wheat and 100,000 tonnes of barley that closed last week, with market talk that participation had been thin.
Traders said disagreement about a new stricter inspection scheme for grain imports was creating difficulties in Jordanian tenders.
A new system of state inspections of grain imports, in addition to a previous system of inspections by cargo surveyors, has caused shipment delays and extra costs for grain suppliers, traders said.
"Jordan is taking a hard line on ensuring grain import quality but this has also caused unwillingness of some international trading companies to participate in tenders," a trader said.
Traders said barley shipments to Jordan had been delayed for some weeks because of extra state inspections, in addition to previous systems for cargo quality checks undertaken by Jordan's Ministry of Trade (MIT).
"Everything is being accepted by MIT on a commercial basis with qualities etcetera and then the vessels have arrived and been rejected due to non-compliance with Jordanian food standards," one trader said. "For traders going in there it's a nightmare."
Another trader said the disagreements over quality checks were being compounded by Jordan's desire to achieve aggressively low prices as global grain prices have fallen in past months.
"I think the lack of offers in recent tenders are due both to the harder line being taken on quality and the desire for low prices," another trader said.
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