Egypt has barred the entry of a ship carrying 55,000 tonnes of Indian wheat that was originally intended for Turkey, said Egyptian plant quarantine chief Ahmed El Attar on Saturday.

“We rejected the ship before it entered Egypt,” he told Reuters, and also added that Turkish quarantine authorities had already blocked the arrival of the vessel.

Apart from this, Egypt, which is the world’s biggest importer of wheat, was expecting the arrival of its first ever Indian wheat shipment later on Saturday, purchased by the Egyptian private sector.

Supply minister Aly Moselhy said in May that a deal had been agreed with India to directly purchase 500,000 tonnes of wheat outside the usual tender system but it was not yet signed.

In April, Egypt’s agriculture ministry announced that it had approved India as a source of wheat supplies as the North African country seeks to supplant purchases disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

India’s government confirmed that it would still allow shipments awaiting customs clearance and exports to Egypt.

Moselhy said previously that the Indian ban would not apply to a government deal with Egypt.

Egypt has procured 3.5 million tonnes of local wheat during the harvest season so far,said a senior official in the ministry of agriculture on Saturday.