World Grain - September 2019 - 30

FEATURE: IRAQ'S WHEAT MILLING CONUNDRUM

plants is almost entirely imported. Kola reports very
inconsistent quality.
"Sometimes there is good wheat from the U.S. or
Australia or bad wheat from Ukraine," he said.
The government imports wheat through the port of
Basra and transports it in 35- to 40-tonne bulk trucks
to government silos around the country. There are
40,000-tonne and 80,000-tonne grain storage facilities
near Sulaymaniyah.
The mills must send their own trucks to pick up their
grain allocations. Because of the government storage
facilities, the private millers need to store relatively
small volumes. The Sachnar mill, despite being Iraq's
largest, has only 4,000 tonnes of silo capacity.
The government buys up nearly all the domestic
wheat crop. The USDA estimates it at 3 million tonnes
in 2018, a 25% decline from the 4-million-tonne harvest of the previous year.
The peak production year was 2015 with 4.4 million
tonnes, but thanks to the most rain in two decades, the
USDA forecasts 2019 production to be a record 4.8
million tonnes.
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"Most farmers can supply two or three truckloads
of 22 to 25 tonnes," he said. "Landholdings are small.
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plant. But the money is stuck for two years. We collect
the wheat and supply to government under their name.
The government pays the farmers and they pay us.
"We work with farmers around three big cities. My
HPSOR\HHV DUH WKHUH 7KH\ QHHG ¿QDQFLQJ IRU LUULJDtion. A few other millers do the same, but it takes a lot
of capital. And it takes patience. In southern Iraq it is
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will get a high price from the government."
Kola said the quality of local wheat is very bad.
"Low gluten, not even C class," he said. "The government buys it from farmers at a high price to encourage them to farm. Minimum purchase price is $500 per
tonne for Class C. I could import it for $200 per tonne."
The subsidies, he said, "do not go into the right
pocket. Mostly traders do this business. They are cheating. They buy it from the farmers at a cheap price and
mix it with imported wheat to sell to the government."
The government pays millers only a $10 per tonne

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World Grain - September 2019

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