Iraq has received 50,000 MT of US wheat and 29,000 out of a total of 150,000 MT of Thai rice it had bought, a senior trade ministry source said on Thursday. Iraq was also expecting another 150,000 MT of US and Canadian wheat to arrive later in May and 32,000 MT of Thai rice was on its way and would be arriving soon.

There is no information on price details. Iraq needs around 3 million MT of wheat a year to help feed a population of 27 million people. Iraq has been quiet over the timings and size of its tenders since the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki took office last year.

In 2005 and until mid-2006, it tendered for at least one million tonnes every two months in a plan to raise imports to build up reserves after shortages plagued the state-run food distribution system. But Iraqi trade sources said the government had moved to a plan to buy small quantities of wheat when needed to prevent market price fluctuations. The trade ministry source said Iraq bought one million tonnes of US wheat and 400,000 MT of Canadian wheat between January and March.