August 31, 2015
Iran not importing wheat for first time since 1960
Iran's farmers and inventories have met domestic demand for wheat; therefore, for the first time since 1960, the country will not be importing the crop, Bloomberg reported.
This is in contrary to a USDA forecast that observed an import volume of three million tonnes for 2015, less than 6.3 million tonnes in the last season.
Currently, local inventories could support supplies for six months, according to Ali Ghanbari, the managing director of the Government Trading Corp.
Ghanbari added that guaranteed wheatpurchases from farmers are expected to break past eight million tonnes, with 7.8 million tonnes bought so far.
In the absence of Iranian wheat-buying from overseas, prices in Chicago slid 18% this year. The USDA expects global supplies to reach a record high, in the year ending May 31, 2016.