Saturday, March 03, 2012 9:40:52 AM
Tehran Times .. Iran buys U.S. wheat despite tensions
Economic Desk
On Line: 02 March 2012 16:36
In Print: Saturday 03 March 2012
WASHINGTN (Reuters) - Iran has made purchase of U.S. wheat in an effort to build food stockpiles as the United States and Europe implement tough new sanctions against Iran.
The U.S. Agriculture Department reported on Thursday that Iran bought 120,000 tons of U.S. wheat — enough to fill two large cargo ships.
While not illegal, the deal caught traders by surprise as tensions mount between the West and Iran.
In the last month, Iran has bought nearly 3 million tons of wheat.
Iran has asked to import a million tons of wheat from Pakistan in a barter deal and also approached India. The Islamic Republic has also bought nearly 2 million tons in February from Russia, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
Traders were unable to confirm which grain company sold the wheat to Iran, but suspected major grain companies such as Cargill Inc, Bunge Ltd or Archer Daniels Midland. ADM and Bunge did not respond to inquiries seeking comment and Cargill said they do not comment on market rumors.
“Cargill, like a variety of other multinational companies with a global agricultural footprint, does sell agricultural commodities to Iran, as food is specifically excluded from the sanctions. We take great care to ensure that these sales respect both the spirit and the letter of the law,” Cargill spokesman Mark Klein added.
Iran last purchased U.S. wheat in 2009 but Thursday’s sale would be the largest U.S. wheat sale to the country since August 2008, a year when severe drought halved the country’s domestic crop and triggered record imports, according to USDA data.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/95983-iran-buys-us-wheat-despite-tensions
========
U.S. Exporters Sell 120,000 Tons of Wheat to Iran, Most Since August 2008
By Whitney McFerron and Alan Bjerga - Mar 2, 2012 7:46 AM ET ..with links..
U.S. exporters sold the most wheat to Iran in more than three years, the government said, raising speculation that the Persian Gulf country may be boosting stockpiles after production from last year’s crop declined.
The sale of 120,000 metric tons of hard, red winter wheat is for delivery in the marketing year that ends May 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in an e-mailed statement. The sale was the biggest since Iran purchased 689,310 tons in a deal announced on Aug. 15, 2008. The U.S. hasn’t exported any wheat to Iran since a 54,267-ton shipment was sent in November 2009, USDA data show.
Iran’s production of wheat, the country’s biggest crop, fell to 13.75 million tons in 2011, 13 percent less than a year earlier, the USDA estimates. While Iran is facing international sanctions over its nuclear program, U.S. restrictions provide exemptions for “licensed exports of agricultural commodities,” according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the Treasury Department.
“If Iran is concerned about commerce or shipping, any of those kinds of things, as a result of sanctions or something worse coming about, having adequate stockpiles of food in the country may be an appropriate thing to do,” Vince Peterson, a vice president of overseas operations for U.S. Wheat Associates, a trade group focusing on developing export markets, said.
Oil Rises
The U.S. and Europe are moving to block Iranian oil sales and transactions with its central bank. The U.S. and Israel say they haven’t ruled out using force to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Islamic republic says its atomic program is peaceful and legitimate under international agreements. Iran holds parliamentary elections tomorrow.
Crude-oil futures for April delivery rose 1.7 percent to $108.84 a barrel at 2:29 p.m. today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 11 percent this year. Wheat futures slid 0.6 percent to $6.64 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after climbing as much as 0.7 percent.
Iran may have purchased as much as 2 million tons of wheat in the past month from international suppliers, Peterson said by telephone from Arlington, Virginia. Arkady Zlochevsky, the president of Russia’s Grain Union, said Feb. 22 that the country may deliver 1 million tons of grain to Iran. Industry officials in India also have discussed selling wheat to Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 28, citing unnamed sources.
The U.S. exported $53.035 million in agricultural products to Iran last year, the least since 2006, USDA data show.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/u-s-exporters-sell-120-000-tons-of-wheat-to-iran-most-since-august-2008.html
======
Huge 2011-2012 grain crop surpasses government and industry expectations
by: Kate Hodges
From: PerthNow
January 19, 2012 8:07AM
West Australian farmers have broken records to harvest the biggest grain crop ever in 2011-2012
WEST Australian farmers have broken records as the 2011-2012 grain harvest proved to be the biggest ever produced in the state, with more still to come.
Deliveries pushed the state total to 14.7 million tonnes, to surpass the previous record set in 2003-04 of 14,695,321 million tonnes.
General manager of operations at Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH) Colin Tutt says that every region has exceeded CBH's expectations and their pre-harvest state forecast of 13.5 million.
"The knowledge that we have broken the record as the largest grain crop ever received in Western Australia is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved,” he says.
”We have seen significant rain delays, quality issues requiring extensive use of falling number machines, bins filling and closing, and challenges in moving grain to port.”
‘The 2011-12 harvest has really tested us all.”
The large harvest has also surpassed the forecasts made by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) in their December 2011 Australian crop report.
ABARES predicted a rise in winter crop production of 82 per cent, to the 14.7million tonne figure that has now already been reached.
However, Mr Tutt also warned that getting the big crop to port still poses a huge challenge for the industry.
He praised last year's $350 million investment by state and federal governments' in the grain transport network.
The harvest is expected to continue in some areas until the final weeks of January, with around another 200,000 tonnes expected to be delivered.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/local-business/huge-2011-2012-grain-crop-surpasses-both-govt-and-industry-expectations-despite-hard-conditions/story-e6frg2s3-1226247635054
========
Iran buys 800,000 T Russian, Australian wheat
Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:01pm GMT
HAMBURG Feb 23 (Reuters) - Iran has purchased about 800,000 tonnes of wheat this week comprising some 500,000 tonnes from Russia and 300,000 tonnes from Australia, European traders said on Thursday.
The purchases were made by the state agency Government Trading Corporation of Iran (GTC), traders said. This broke with the previous practice of private-sector wheat purchases.
"The Iranians had to pay premiums well over international prices," one trader said.
The purchases are in addition to around 1.1 million tonnes of wheat Iran bought in the previous two weeks. (Reporting by Michael Hogan; editing by Keiron Henderson)
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E8DN81S20120223?sp=true
Economic Desk
On Line: 02 March 2012 16:36
In Print: Saturday 03 March 2012
WASHINGTN (Reuters) - Iran has made purchase of U.S. wheat in an effort to build food stockpiles as the United States and Europe implement tough new sanctions against Iran.
The U.S. Agriculture Department reported on Thursday that Iran bought 120,000 tons of U.S. wheat — enough to fill two large cargo ships.
While not illegal, the deal caught traders by surprise as tensions mount between the West and Iran.
In the last month, Iran has bought nearly 3 million tons of wheat.
Iran has asked to import a million tons of wheat from Pakistan in a barter deal and also approached India. The Islamic Republic has also bought nearly 2 million tons in February from Russia, Germany, Canada, Brazil and Australia.
Traders were unable to confirm which grain company sold the wheat to Iran, but suspected major grain companies such as Cargill Inc, Bunge Ltd or Archer Daniels Midland. ADM and Bunge did not respond to inquiries seeking comment and Cargill said they do not comment on market rumors.
“Cargill, like a variety of other multinational companies with a global agricultural footprint, does sell agricultural commodities to Iran, as food is specifically excluded from the sanctions. We take great care to ensure that these sales respect both the spirit and the letter of the law,” Cargill spokesman Mark Klein added.
Iran last purchased U.S. wheat in 2009 but Thursday’s sale would be the largest U.S. wheat sale to the country since August 2008, a year when severe drought halved the country’s domestic crop and triggered record imports, according to USDA data.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/economy-and-business/95983-iran-buys-us-wheat-despite-tensions
========
U.S. Exporters Sell 120,000 Tons of Wheat to Iran, Most Since August 2008
By Whitney McFerron and Alan Bjerga - Mar 2, 2012 7:46 AM ET ..with links..
U.S. exporters sold the most wheat to Iran in more than three years, the government said, raising speculation that the Persian Gulf country may be boosting stockpiles after production from last year’s crop declined.
The sale of 120,000 metric tons of hard, red winter wheat is for delivery in the marketing year that ends May 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in an e-mailed statement. The sale was the biggest since Iran purchased 689,310 tons in a deal announced on Aug. 15, 2008. The U.S. hasn’t exported any wheat to Iran since a 54,267-ton shipment was sent in November 2009, USDA data show.
Iran’s production of wheat, the country’s biggest crop, fell to 13.75 million tons in 2011, 13 percent less than a year earlier, the USDA estimates. While Iran is facing international sanctions over its nuclear program, U.S. restrictions provide exemptions for “licensed exports of agricultural commodities,” according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the Treasury Department.
“If Iran is concerned about commerce or shipping, any of those kinds of things, as a result of sanctions or something worse coming about, having adequate stockpiles of food in the country may be an appropriate thing to do,” Vince Peterson, a vice president of overseas operations for U.S. Wheat Associates, a trade group focusing on developing export markets, said.
Oil Rises
The U.S. and Europe are moving to block Iranian oil sales and transactions with its central bank. The U.S. and Israel say they haven’t ruled out using force to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Islamic republic says its atomic program is peaceful and legitimate under international agreements. Iran holds parliamentary elections tomorrow.
Crude-oil futures for April delivery rose 1.7 percent to $108.84 a barrel at 2:29 p.m. today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 11 percent this year. Wheat futures slid 0.6 percent to $6.64 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after climbing as much as 0.7 percent.
Iran may have purchased as much as 2 million tons of wheat in the past month from international suppliers, Peterson said by telephone from Arlington, Virginia. Arkady Zlochevsky, the president of Russia’s Grain Union, said Feb. 22 that the country may deliver 1 million tons of grain to Iran. Industry officials in India also have discussed selling wheat to Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 28, citing unnamed sources.
The U.S. exported $53.035 million in agricultural products to Iran last year, the least since 2006, USDA data show.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/u-s-exporters-sell-120-000-tons-of-wheat-to-iran-most-since-august-2008.html
======
Huge 2011-2012 grain crop surpasses government and industry expectations
by: Kate Hodges
From: PerthNow
January 19, 2012 8:07AM
West Australian farmers have broken records to harvest the biggest grain crop ever in 2011-2012
WEST Australian farmers have broken records as the 2011-2012 grain harvest proved to be the biggest ever produced in the state, with more still to come.
Deliveries pushed the state total to 14.7 million tonnes, to surpass the previous record set in 2003-04 of 14,695,321 million tonnes.
General manager of operations at Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH) Colin Tutt says that every region has exceeded CBH's expectations and their pre-harvest state forecast of 13.5 million.
"The knowledge that we have broken the record as the largest grain crop ever received in Western Australia is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved,” he says.
”We have seen significant rain delays, quality issues requiring extensive use of falling number machines, bins filling and closing, and challenges in moving grain to port.”
‘The 2011-12 harvest has really tested us all.”
The large harvest has also surpassed the forecasts made by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) in their December 2011 Australian crop report.
ABARES predicted a rise in winter crop production of 82 per cent, to the 14.7million tonne figure that has now already been reached.
However, Mr Tutt also warned that getting the big crop to port still poses a huge challenge for the industry.
He praised last year's $350 million investment by state and federal governments' in the grain transport network.
The harvest is expected to continue in some areas until the final weeks of January, with around another 200,000 tonnes expected to be delivered.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/local-business/huge-2011-2012-grain-crop-surpasses-both-govt-and-industry-expectations-despite-hard-conditions/story-e6frg2s3-1226247635054
========
Iran buys 800,000 T Russian, Australian wheat
Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:01pm GMT
HAMBURG Feb 23 (Reuters) - Iran has purchased about 800,000 tonnes of wheat this week comprising some 500,000 tonnes from Russia and 300,000 tonnes from Australia, European traders said on Thursday.
The purchases were made by the state agency Government Trading Corporation of Iran (GTC), traders said. This broke with the previous practice of private-sector wheat purchases.
"The Iranians had to pay premiums well over international prices," one trader said.
The purchases are in addition to around 1.1 million tonnes of wheat Iran bought in the previous two weeks. (Reporting by Michael Hogan; editing by Keiron Henderson)
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E8DN81S20120223?sp=true
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
