Iran halts wheat imports for 2010

The Iraqi Grain Board will not import any more wheat for the rest of this year as the country's domestic harvest is expected to be good, the head of the board said Thursday (May 28).

The board has purchased 1.43 million tonnes of foreign wheat so far this year, according to figures from Iraqi trade officials. There was also some wheat left over from last year, although the amount is not disclosed.

This year has seen better rainfall and farmers are expecting a bumper harvest, exceeding 2.2 million tonnes.

Iraq consumes between 3.5-4 million tonnes of wheat a year, leaving 11 million tonnes for other purposes. Last year, rainfall was well below normal and total wheat production dropped to 1.2 million tonnes, according to the grain board's statistics.

Earlier this month, the USDA pegged Iran's wheat crop at 14.4 million tonnes, noting that the country was set for "both an earlier harvest and higher yields.”

Iran said last month that it would export two million tonnes of wheat to three Arab countries this month, ending a three-year period without foreign sales. The announcements come as wheat exporters such as Australia, the EU and Russia are, in the face of bumper inventories, striving for new export markets.