A flour mill in the United Arab Emirates has purchased 40,000 tonnes of milling wheat from Pakistan in a tender for the same volume, which closed on Tuesday, European traders said on Thursday.

The price was said to be between $345 and $350 a tonne c&f.

The tender had sought wheat of 12.5 per cent protein for shipment from June 1-20. Offers had been sought from origins including the US, Australia, Canada, Europe, Kazakhstan, Pakistan or the Black Sea region.

"Pakistani wheat offers were by far the cheapest," one trader said. "The Pakistani harvest, which started in April, appears to have been very good, and large volumes are being offered cheaply in the Middle East and Africa."

Traders in late April had said exporters had made large sales of new crop wheat from Pakistan totalling 200,000 to 220,000 tonnes to a series of buyers in countries including the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Pakistan's government forecasts the 2011 wheat crop at around 25 million tonnes, up from 23.8 million tonnes in 2010 and well above its annual consumption of 22 million tonnes. – Reuters