May 4, 2006

Iraq to announce new tender for wheat

The Grain Board of Iraq is to shortly announce a new tender to buy wheat from the international market, head of the board Khalil Assi told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday (May 4).

"We are planning to issue the tender for the new wheat purchase next week," Assi said.

He declined to say how much Iraq would buy out of the new tender. The tender is addressed to all world wheat suppliers, he added.

Iraq needs to buy around 3 million tonnes of wheat every year.

In the last four months of 2005 the board bought 1.55 million tonnes, including some 500,000 tonnes from Canada, 450,000 tons from the US, 350,000 tonnes from Australia and 150,000 tonnes from Germany.

Baghdad suspended its ties with Australia's monopoly wheat exporter AWB Ltd over allegations it paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime under the oil-for-food deal with the UN.

Australian suppliers outside AWB recently set up a new company called Wheat Australia Ltd to undertake wheat exports to Iraq.