Iraq has awarded a buy tender for one million tonnes of wheat to two American firms, Columbia Grains and Louis Dreyfus, at $190 a tonne, a senior trade official told Reuters on Wednesday.
He said shipments were expected to start arriving in early December under a deal that had been made on FOB terms.
The trade ministry, among the world's major buyers of commodities, chose US wheat after Australia declined to make offers on an FOB (free on board) basis. Australia has dominated the market in Iraq in recent years. "The FOB terms save us a lot of money," the official said.
Iraq has said it will buy one million tonnes of wheat every 40 days until early next year to fill its strategic reserves.