ATLANTA, Ga. – After taking over the Iraqi nation, the United States is now hoping to take over the Iraqi wheat market.
A big part of that effort will involve “indoctrinating” Iraqi buyers in the advantages of American wheat, said a senior official with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We’re looking forward to a successful market development program,” said Robert Reimenschneider, director of the grain and feed division of the USDA’s foreign agricultural service.
In March, the government, along with the trade promotion group U.S. Wheat Associates, will meet with Iraqi wheat buyers in Amman, Jordan, for what he described as “a little show-and-tell and education.”
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That will be followed by a similar get-together on U.S. soil, he said during a presentation at the annual U.S. wheat industry conference.
“We want to bring those same buyers to the U.S. for a more thorough indoctrination,” he said.
Iraq has been a significant buyer of wheat over the years, importing an average of two million tonnes annually over the past 10 years, with a high of 3.2 million tonnes in 2000-01. The purchases are mainly soft white and hard red winter wheat and have come mainly from Australia in recent years.
The U.S. has been out of the market since 1998, when Saddam Hussein’s government announced it would no longer buy American grain. Now, with Hussein gone and a U.S.-sponsored provisional government in its place, the U.S. wants to get back into the game.
In an interview, Reimenschneider said the plan is to eventually establish an open, commercial, competitive market in Iraq, to replace the centralized buying agency known as the Iraq Grain Board.
He rejected any suggestion that the U.S. will take advantage of its military position in Iraq to ensure that U.S. sellers have an advantage in the Iraqi market, saying the intention is to have open competition.
“U.S. suppliers are willing to compete on an open and fair basis and that’s why transparency in the tendering process and awarding contracts is very important,” he said.”We’re going to try very hard to get that established as the standard, but it remains to be seen how it will all play out over the next six months.”
Alan Lee, chair of U.S. Wheat Associates, said he’s confident U.S. suppliers would do well in a competitive market.
“That’s going to be a very valuable market,” he said. “We’d all like to have a piece of it of course, and we all deserve the right to go in there and have honest and open bidding.”
Iraq’s wheat import needs for 2003-04, estimated to be about 1.75 million tonnes, are being filled by existing prewar contracts. New purchases will probably begin again in July and be handled on a commercial basis by the World Food Program and financed by Iraqi oil revenue.
U.S. wheat industry and government officials were irate just before Christmas when the IGB issued tenders for wheat with technical specifications that were tailored to Australian wheat and effectively ruled out American wheat. The U.S.-led coalition cancelled the tenders.
