Australia to bid in new Indonesia wheat tender

Australia to bid in new Indonesia wheat tender

SYDNEY (Reuters): AWB Ltd., the re-named Australian Wheat Board, will bid in Indonesia's foreshadowed tender for 700,000 tons of wheat in September, a spokesman said yesterday.

AWB regularly participated in Indonesian tenders and the expected September purchase was not likely to be any different, he said.

Beddu Amang, the chairman of Indonesia's state commodity agency Bulog, said in Bangkok on Aug. 9 that tenders for 700,000 tons of wheat and 100,000 tons to 200,000 tons of white sugar might be issued in September.

Australia's main sugar exports are in raw form, with local sugar refiners saying recently that they were following Indonesian white sugar tenders but that local capacity constraints may inhibit Australian ability to supply.

Queensland Sugar Corp., which exports raws, told Reuters last week that it had sold about 20,000 tons to Indonesia in its last sugar tender. It declined to comment on whether it would bid in future tenders.

AWB was disappointed with its allocation in Indonesia's last wheat tender, securing a sale of 269,500 tons in a total tender of 745,000 tons. Indonesia also took 240,000 tons from Canada and 235,500 tons from the U.S.

The Australian monopoly wheat exporter has pointed out that Indonesia is traditionally a major market for Australian wheat and has expressed concern about increasing U.S. penetration of Indonesia, a comparatively new market for that country.

Australian grains industry leaders have said that U.S. donations of wheat to Indonesia are undercutting Australia's commercial sales to Indonesia, paving the way for U.S. commercial sales and acting as a disguised subsidy.

Last year Australia sold 2.4 million tons of wheat to Indonesia for a 60 percent share of the market.