Saudi Arabia is tendering for 500,000 tons of wheat with bids due later, a grains authority official said. “We will select winning bids within 48 hours so that will be Sunday,” the official said. European grain trade sources said the wheat would be for delivery in March, April, May and June, adding they believed the total tonnage could turn out to be as high as 550,000 tons. Traders said Saudi Arabia was looking for eight cargoes of 55,000 tons each with 14 percent minimum protein content, including four for delivery in Jeddah and four in Dammam. The tender also included two 55,000 ton cargoes with 12.5 percent minimum protein, one for Jeddah and one for Dammam. Traders said the wheat was likely Canadian and/or from the Baltic region including Lithuania., adding German wheat, which meets protein requirement, seems too expensive. Canada is favorite to win a big showing among winners of a huge Saudi Arabian tender for higher-quality wheat, with Lithuania also an outside bet, traders believe. The Canadian Wheat Board, the world's biggest wheat seller, is said to be “bidding aggressively” to sell into the tender, which is at a headline level 500,000 tons, but which some traders said may turn out to be even higher. “Canadian wheat is being aggressively offered for quite a few destinations,” a London analyst told Agrimoney.com. “Rumors are going round that the board is very interested in this [tender]. Given the size of the crop, and the quality factor, it looks highly likely this is the case.” However, Lithuania, the former Soviet state, is also being perceived as getting a potential showing, after appearing on the export radar with some shipments to South East Asia. “It has suddenly popped its head up on to the export market,” the analyst said. “That just shows you how much wheat there is around, if Lithuania is getting in on the act.” Saudi Arabia is seeking eight 55,000-ton cargoes of wheat with a minimum protein content of 14 percent, and two loads with 12.5 percent protein. The country's wheat imports are expected to rise from about 2 million tons last year to 3 million tons by 2016 as the desert kingdom phases out domestic production in an attempt to save water. A Lithuanian showing in the Saudi order, which will be decided on Sunday, would represent the second unusual sale victory in a week, after Kazakhstan on Wednesday won 60,000 tons of a 180,000-tonne tender placed by Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer.
