Int’l Tender for Buying Barley, Corn

Iranian state-owned animal feed importer SLAL has issued international tenders to purchase up to 200,000 tons of feed barley and 200,000 tons of corn. The tenders close on Dec. 17, they said. New tenders had been expected by traders after SLAL made no purchase in previous tenders for the same volume of barley and corn in September and July, Reuters reported. SLAL has taken a backseat in Iran’s grain purchasing in recent years and its renewed activity is seen as another sign the country’s grain imports are returning to traditional patterns after Tehran’s nuclear sanctions deal with western powers, traders said. But traders said some banks are still unwilling to provide performance bonds for Iranian business. Both the new corn and barley tenders again required large bid bonds, a trader said. SLAL will give traders the freedom to select the currency of their offer, excluding US dollars. Corn and barley in the new tenders are both sought from optional origins for shipment in four consignments. The corn was sought for shipment between January and April, 2018, and the barley between February and May.