Iraq – 4 Million Tons of Wheat Expected to Be Marketed in the Current Marketing Season

The General Company for Grain Distribution at the Ministry of Trade has projected marketing 4 million tons of wheat in the current marketing season.

The company’s Director General, Haider Nouri Al-Karrawi, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “the domestic zero-flour production project, which started in 2024 with only 4 mills, has witnessed a qualitative leap, reaching today 43 operational mills of varying production capacities,” noting that “some of these mills have a capacity of up to 3,000 tons per day.”

Al-Karrawi added that “these mills have successfully met local demand, which previously required importing between 2.5 and 3 million tons annually,” emphasizing that “the shift from a rentier state to domestic industrial production is the only guarantee for future economic stability.”

He also confirmed that “Iraq currently has wheat reserves in silos and storage facilities sufficient until 2027 in the absence of new production,” explaining that “the Ministry is preparing to receive the marketing season in April 2026, with sufficient storage capacity after consuming about 1.5 million tons to cover the next three quotas.”

Al-Karrawi expected that “the quantities of wheat to be marketed in the next season will range between 3.5 and 4 million tons, according to an agricultural plan based on modern sprayers covering an area estimated at 3.5 million dunums,” pointing out that “the lower expectations compared to last year (which reached 5.1 million tons) are due to global wheat shortages and climate changes that have affected all countries in the region.”