February 24, 2012

Iran to buy one-million-tonne foreign wheat

Iran will purchase one million tonnes of wheat under barter trade system from Pakistan and, in return, export fertiliser and iron ore to Pakistan.

This was stated by Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar while talking to media after his meeting with the visiting Iranian Deputy Minister Abbas Ghobadi at his residence here on Thursday (Feb 23).

Qamar said Iran would also import 200,000 tonnes of rice from Pakistan and added that Thursday's meeting was held in connection with the decision taken by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad last week.

Iran also purchased about 800,000 tonnes of wheat this week comprising some 500,000 tonnes from Russia and 300,000 tonnes from Australia, European traders said on Thursday.

The purchases were made by the state agency Government Trading Corporation of Iran (GTC), traders said. This broke with the previous practice of private-sector wheat purchases.

"The Iranians had to pay premiums well over international prices," one trader said.

The purchases are in addition to around 1.1 million tonnes of wheat Iran bought in the previous two weeks.