Iraqs Umm Qasr port is taking delivery of 88,000 tonnes of long grain Vietnamese, Uruguay and Thai rice that were purchased late last year, shipping sources said on Monday. They said the port began on Saturday unloading a vessel carrying 26,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice in addition to two vessels that were already discharging since the start of the month a total of 62,000 tonnes of Thai and Uruguay origin rice.
The main port, which is the entry point for most of the countrys commodity imports, was expecting another vessel, MV/Jim Rise carrying around 30,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice on April 29. They said the first vessel, M/V Eirini K, which began discharging on April 2, had 1,247 tonnes left of a total cargo of around 31,500 tonnes of Thai rice.
The second vessel, M/V Patriarch, which arrived at the berth on April 5, had 7,353 tonnes left of a total cargo of around 30,500 tonnes of Uruguay rice. The third vessel, M/V Navision Trader, which arrived at Umm Qasr on March 8, and began discharging on March 11, had 24,000 tonnes remaining of a total cargo of 26,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice. Iraq is one of the largest importers of wheat, with yearly import requirements of at least 3 million tonnes and rice at around one million tonnes.