SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s current wheat reserves are sufficient for four months, trade ministry spokesman Mohammed Hanoun said on Tuesday.
Hanoun told state news agency INA that the ministry had bought 800,000 tonnes from local farmers.
Iraq is a major Middle East grain importer and needs between 4.5 million and 5 million tons of wheat a year to supply its massive food rationing program.
In April, Iraq’s minister of trade said the country would allocate $100 million to urgently purchase wheat and to create a strategic reserve by importing three million tons of the grain, as food prices are rising due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine export about a quarter of the world’s wheat and half of its sunflower products, like seeds and oil, according to BBC. Ukraine also sells a lot of corn globally.
