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Iraqi Wheat Production Comes to 1.8 Million Tons, Minister Says
Jul 25, 2011
Iraq’s wheat production amounts to 1.8 million metric tons this year and the country is due to become an exporter of the grain by 2015, Deputy Agriculture Minister Ghazi al-Abudi said.
Output is on course to reach 2.25 million to 2.5 million tons at the end of the season this year, the minister said today at a press conference in Baghdad. “Production is due to reach 3 million tons next year and Iraq is expected to become a wheat exporter by 2015 in line with government plans,” he said.
Iraq produced 1.875 million tons last year, Amer Abdul Aziz, spokesman for the Grain Board of Iraq, said July 19. The harvest so far this season covers about 40 percent of total national demand of about 4.5 million tons, he said.
The country will probably import another 1 million tons of wheat before the end of the year after buying 1.5 million tons so far in 2011, Hasan Ibrahim, the board’s general director, said June 7. Iraq tendered last week for 100,000 tons of wheat from all origins, with a bidding deadline of July 30.
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