Iraq receives US rice, expects wheat

Iraq's Umm Qasr port has received five ships carrying a total of 160,000 tonnes of US rice in the past week, an official from the Iraqi Grain Board said on Saturday. Another three vessels carrying 150,000 tonnes of Australian and Canadian wheat were waiting offshore for an opportunity to unload, the official said from the southern city of Basra. Iraq is one of the world's biggest importers of wheat and rice, much of it going to a huge public food ration programme.