KARACHI, Dec 23: Iraq has agreed to buy at least 50,000 tons of milling wheat from private Pakistani exporters at 218 euros per ton, traders and government officials said on Monday.

They said the deal might eventually be much bigger, with exporters saying Iraq had expressed interest in buying 150,000 tons and a Pakistani official saying tenders for the export of 200,000 tons of wheat for Iraq would be issued next month.

Exporters had quoted a higher price to Iraq but eventually accepted a counter offer, they said.

“Iraq made a counter offer of 218 euro per ton last week,” Hamid Gharib, an exporter approached by the Iraqi grain authority, told Reuters. “We have accepted their offer.”

Baghdad plans to import around 500,000 tons of wheat under the 13th phase of the UN oil-for-food-programme.

Iraqi authorities had contacted three Pakistani private exporters and the state-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) for the wheat, which will be shipped from January, traders said.

Gharib said the three Pakistani exporters were likely to sell around 50,000 tons of wheat to Iraq, but a TCP official said the state-run agency would not take part in this sale because it received the offer very late.

“They have showed interest in buying 150,000 tons, but we have firm orders for 50,000 tons of wheat supply,” Gharib said.

Pakistan exported 100,000 tons of wheat to Baghdad in fiscal 2001-02 (July-June) in a government-to-government deal.

Another wheat exporter said local traders had already started negotiations with the commerce ministry in Islamabad to buy wheat stocks from the government to meet the order.

“The commerce and agriculture ministries will meet next month to review the stock availability,” the exporter said. “The government has promised to supply us wheat for exports.”

A commerce ministry official said wheat would be made available for the deal and a sale tender issued in January.

“We will arrange supplies for them but the price will only be determined though open bidding,” he said.

The official said the government planned to issue a tender for at least 200,000 tons of wheat for Iraq next month.

Pakistan began to export wheat for the first time last year. It found a big market for its wheat in the Middle East and Africa. Pakistan also exported wheat to European and Southeast Asian countries.—Reuters