Iraq.5 million tons of domestic wheat purchases for this season

The Iraqi Ministry of Trade said on Thursday that it had closed the domestic wheat buying season, and had purchased more than five million tons of wheat.

The Ministry of Agriculture had said it expected domestic production to reach 6 million tons during the harvest period, which stretches between April and May.

The ministry's statement stated that Nineveh was the region that produced the most wheat, and the volume of purchases reached 909,357 tons. Nineveh province is the breadbasket of Iraq.

Iraq declared that it achieved self-sufficiency in July, with about 4.5 million tons of wheat stored in government silos.

Iraq is a major importer of wheat and needs between 4.5 and 5 million tons of wheat annually for its food subsidy program. It usually blends domestic wheat with imported from Australia, Canada and the United States to make up for any deficits in domestic production.

Source: Reuters