Officials say they don't know why but are trying to find out

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

Representatives of the Pacific Northwest wheat industry aren't alarmed that Iraq excluded the U.S. in a recent wheat purchase, but they say the situation bears watching.

Iraq's Ministry of Trade recently announced a tender offer to buy 50,000 tons of wheat from all origins excluding the U.S. and Romania. No reason was given for excluding the two countries.

Dan Steiner, grains merchant for Pendleton Grain Growers in Pendleton, Ore., said exclusion of U.S. wheat in one tender offer is not concerning.

"If it becomes a routine thing, then I think we probably have an issue," he said.

Iraq buys a lot of white wheat, and was exclusively a U.S. customer until Saddam Hussein came into power, Steiner said. After that, it bought wheat exclusively from Australia.

Glen Squires, vice president of the Washington Grain Commission, said Iraq imported 11.4 million bushels from Pacific Northwest ports during fiscal 2010-11, with 6.1 million bushels being hard red winter wheat and the remainder hard red spring wheat.

Iraq is not typically an importer from the region, but last year represented quite a bit, Squires said.

"We'd like to be able to participate in the business," he said. "But who knows what political issues are involved."

"We cannot comment on the situation because we simply don't know," said Steve Mercer, director of communications for U.S. Wheat Associates. "We are trying to find out more, as are many other parties, but we have not heard anything official, only what we consider to be rumors."

Purchases can be politically motivated when a governmental agency manages most wheat procurement and individual millers suddenly get the opportunity to buy wheat, Steiner said.

It could also be a case of the miller not being able to find the right wheat to suit their needs.

"A lot of times, smaller millers aren't sophisticated enough to have a cereal chemist on board," he said. "Some of it is ignorance; they don't know which variety or quality aspects they need, or maybe they don't know it's available."

An order excluding U.S. wheat happens occasionally, Steiner said. Egypt has done it because of a protein requirement and China has done it because of concerns over the wheat fungus TCK smut.

"This one is unique because we just went to war, spent more than a decade liberating this country and giving these people the freedom they now enjoy," Steiner said. "It's somewhat of a slap in the face, because they're saying, 'We want wheat, but we want it from anywhere except the United States or Romania.'"

The commission will wait to see how things unfold, Squires said.

"The people who are involved in trade, certainly it's on their radar screen," he said.

Romania played a small part in the multi-national force that liberated Iraq.