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Iraq 2nd Biggest Consumer Of U.S. Wheat

With an improved trade environment and financing tools even as it battles terrorists, Iraq has become the second largest buyer of U.S. wheat this year. The number one customer of U.S. wheat is Nigeria, which buys more than 2.0 million metric tons. Between June 1 and November 22, 2005, Iraq purchased at 1.9 million tons the most wheat ever bought from the U.S. In 2004, that number was just 370,000 metric tons.

"Iraq, still subsidizing food for their citizens, uses the U.S. hard red winter wheat to make bread," said Dawn Forsythe, U.S. Wheat Associates spokesperson. Following the 1970s and 1980s, when the U.S. garnered up to half of the Iraq wheat imports, Australia became the main source of wheat for Iraq. Because of trade sanctions, the U.S. was out of the Iraq wheat market in the 1990s.

"I really do think it`s a matter of the Iraqi`s coming to Kansas, gaining a lot of knowledge about how the U.S. market system works. Plus, our USDA representatives in Baghdad have been very supportive of the U.S. wheat industry," Forsythe said.