May 9, 2006

Iraq finalises contract with Wheat Australia

The Grain Board of Iraq has finalised a contract to buy 350,000 tonnes of wheat from Australian suppliers outside the wheat monopoly AWB Ltd, the board's head Khalil Assi told Dow Jones Newswires Monday (May 8).

"There were some problems but they were solved and the purchase has gone through," he said.

Earlier Monday, in Canberra, a spokeswoman said negotiations continue over a possible sale of wheat to Iraq by Wheat Australia Ltd, a company set up to bypass an Iraqi ban on dealing with AWB.

"It's still progressing, it's at its final stages at the moment," a spokeswoman for Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd, one of three partners in Wheat Australia, said about the possible sale.

Baghdad suspended its ties with AWB over allegations it paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime under the oil-for-food deal with the UN. Wheat Australia is a consortium comprising GrainCorp Ltd, ABB Grain Ltd, and unlisted Cooperative Bulk Handling Ltd.