UPDATE 1-Algeria could buy 3 million tons of Russian wheat this season, Russian trade mission says

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MOSCOW, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Algeria’s purchases of Russian wheat could reach 3 million metric tons this season after a big part of 510,000 tons bought by Algeria’s state grains agency in a tender on Oct. 8 was awarded to Russia, Russia’s trade mission in Algeria said.

“If the current trend continues, Russian grain supplies to Algeria could reach 3 million tons by the end of the season,” the trade mission said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement comes after Algeria excluded French companies from a wheat import tender and required that participating firms did not offer French-origin wheat, according to trade sources, in apparent fallout from renewed diplomatic tensions between Algiers and Paris.

Algeria is one of the world’s biggest wheat buyers and for many years France was by far its largest supplier.

Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, aspires to become an agriculture superpower with President Vladimir Putin ordering a 50% boost in agricultural exports by 2030.

The trade mission said Algeria had bought 978,000 tons of wheat from Russia in July-September, the first three months of the current export season.

The North African country is among the top five importers of Russian wheat, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who won a second term last month, visited Russia in June 2023 for a meeting with Putin, who said ties between the two countries were “strategic”. (Reporting by Gleb Bryanski Editing by Mark Potter)

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