September 30, 2004

Iraq To Buy 1 Million MT Wheat From Australia, 500,000 MT From US
 
Iraq will sign deals within the next few days to buy 1 million metric tons of hard wheat from Australia and 500,000 tons from the U.S., a senior Iraqi trade ministry official said Wednesday.
 
The Iraqi Grain Board has agreed with Australia's AWB Ltd. to supply Iraq with 1 million metric tons of hard wheat, according to the official. It has also agreed with U.S. wheat supplier Cargill to supply 500,000 tons of hard milling wheat.
 
Deals with these two parties would be signed within the next few days, the official said.
 
It was agreed with the two suppliers that delivery should start by the end of this year and continue through next year, he said.
 
The price reached with the two suppliers was $238 per metric ton, according to the trade official.
 
Earlier this month, the Iraqi trade ministry said that Iraq bought 800,000 metric tons of hard wheat from the AWB and 500,000 metric tons from Cargill.
 
The figure was increased to 1 million tons from the AWB instead of the 800,000 tons announced earlier, the official said.
 
The planned wheat purchase from the U.S. remained at 500,000 tons, he added.
 
In July, the Iraqi Grain Board announced a tender to buy 100,000 tons of hard wheat.
 
Iraq needs to buy 3 million tons of wheat in 2005 because of a poor 2004 harvest. Iraq produces between 750,000 to 1 million tons of wheat a year.