MOSCOW, July 4 (Reuters) - Tunisia has offered Russia a bilateral grain purchase agreement with a fixed price range and volume, Russian state agricultural export agency Agroexport said.
Agroexport stated that the proposal was made during a meeting between Russian exporters and Salwa Benhadid Zouari, the head of Tunisia's state agency, the Office des Céréales.
Tunisian officials and importers expressed interest in expanding purchases of hard and soft wheat, barley, corn, oats, legumes, as well as vegetable oils and meal from Russia, Agroexport said.
Tunisia usually buys grains through state tenders but long-term over-the-counter sales may help to ensure supply stability.
Tunisia meets about 70% of its total grain needs through domestic production, but its harvest varies from year to year due to weather factors, Agroexport said, citing Tunisia's Office des Cereals.
In 2023, Russia supplied 39% of Tunisia’s wheat imports.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, 22.6% of Russian grain exports went to North African countries, with 1.1 million tons delivered to Tunisia alone, three times more than in the previous season, Agroexport said, quoting Eduard Zernin, head of the Rusgrain Union.
Agroexport quoted Zernin saying that in addition to wheat, corn, and barley, there are prospects for the development of shipments to Tunisia of legumes, including yellow peas, the production of which is actively growing in Russia.
Zernin told Reuters Russia and Tunisia had agreed to work on the proposal. Tunisia's Office des Cereals was not immediately available for comment.
Russian grain exports in the season that ended in June are estimated to be at a record high. The Russian Agriculture Ministry has forecast that exports could amount to about 70 million tons. (Reporting by Olga Popova, editing by Gleb Bryanski and Jane Merriman)
