Iraq doubles US wheat purchases

Iraq doubled its purchases of US wheat this marketing year with the announcement on Tuesday of a sale of 165,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat, an inroad into a market dominated by Australia. The sale, reported by the Agriculture Department, substantiated talk in the grain market earlier this month that Iraq would buy at least 150,000 tonnes and possibly as much as 300,000 tonnes of US wheat.
Australia has been the dominant supplier to Iraq for more than a decade. Before that, the United States was the leader. The US-led invasion of Iraq prompted hopes of a US resurgence in sales.