This is a call for tenders that is making headlines. Algeria has opened a consultation to buy 50,000 tons of wheat. Nothing exceptional so far. Except that French exporters were apparently not kept informed. A process that is reminiscent of being blacklisted.
If we stick to what is said, French exporters have no reason to worry. Algeria has never officially declared that it no longer wanted to supply itself with wheat from France. But in reality, it is another story: the last call for tenders issued by Algeria at the beginning of the week for a purchase of 50,000 tonnes of wheat has not arrived on the desks of operators in France, even though they are usually kept informed.
A very unusual process
Worse, according to Reuters, those who were approached were told that they should not respond by offering French wheat. An unusual instruction: the Algerian Interprofessional Cereals Office is not in the habit of specifying the origins it wants. It is the trader who, depending on the market, provides wheat compatible with the country’s requirements, the origin of which can sometimes change even along the way.
The blue-white-red grains have a quality that matches that requested by Algeria, and offer guarantees in terms of delivery security. On the other hand, French wheat is now more expensive than Russian wheat, $15 more per tonne. So many considerations that come into play and are generally studied when receiving calls for tender, but which are not decided upstream. But this is what is happening today. ” France is being shunned from the start ,” explains Gautier Le Molgat, CEO of the consulting firm Argus Media France.
Free field for Russian wheat
Hence the feeling of being faced with a position of principle from Algeria even if things have not been said clearly. This state of affairs – which according to some analysts reflects the deterioration of diplomatic relations between the two countries – is a blow to the morale of French exporters who already have much less wheat to sell this year – 60% less outside the EU – due to a historic fall in production .
Two years ago, Algeria had already modified its specifications in the direction of a greater openness to Russian wheat . The procedure displayed these days is perhaps just another version of the same story. That of a complicated Franco-Algerian relationship that will perhaps benefit one more year from the abundant and competitive Black Sea wheat.
