The Iraq Grain Board has issued a freight tender seeking a vessel to transport this month the first 50,000 tonnes of 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes of North American purchased in May, trade sources said on Wednesday. The wheat would be loaded at one to three berths in Canada and delivered to Iraq's port of Umm Qasr, said traders who had seen tender documents.
The wheat Iraq was seeking to ship was bought in a tender that closed on May 2. Trade sources in Amman said early this month that Iraq had finalised deals to buy 300,000 tonnes of North American hard wheat that covers one month's consumption but was still negotiating terms of shipment.
Traders who declined to give prices of the latest purchases from several major trading firms said they were around 10 percent lower than prevailing market prices. Iraq is one of the largest buyers of US wheat.