Iranian official moots return to wheat buying

9 March 2000



Iranian official moots return to wheat buying

IRAN could soon be buying American wheat, according to a senior official in Tehran.

Morteza Sarmadi, deputy foreign minister for Europe and the Americas, welcomed recent reports about the US easing its embargo on key Iranian exports.

This would mark a positive step towards improving relations with Washington, he said.

If the US eased curbs on Iranian exports of carpets, caviar and pistachios, Iran would buy US wheat and medicine, Mr Sarmadi said.

Meanwhile, excellent winter rains in northern India followed by good sunshine have improved the prospects for the countrys wheat crop.

Production is expected to be a record of more than 72m tonnes.

And in Poland, 250,000 tonnes of rye will be imported in the 1999-2000 crop year.

This is a result of Polands smaller rye harvest last year and a surge in domestic demand for alcohol production.

Poland is the worlds number two rye producer, but last years crop fell more than 8% to 5.1m tonnes due to unfavourable weather and the low use of fertilisers.