US corners Iraq wheat marketAs the oil-for-food inquiry drags...

US corners Iraq wheat market
As the oil-for-food inquiry drags on, new figures show US wheat exports to Iraq over the past year have grown almost five-fold.

The US exported about 500,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Iraq last marketing year, before the UN Volker report on alleged AWB kickbacks to Iraq led to a cut-off of AWB shipments and a surge in US exports.

"For the past year, we've captured almost three-quarters of the Iraqi wheat market, which is quite large, which is well over 3 million tonnes, and we've gained a very large share of the Iraqi rice market," Bob Riemenschneider, grain and feed director at the US Foreign Agricultural Services, said.

The US has exported about 2.4 million tonnes of wheat to Iraq so far this marketing year and Mr Riemenschneider expects that to increase gradually in coming years.

Meanwhile, the US is ramping up pressure on Australia's single desk for wheat exports, as Federal Government ministers begin appearing before the Cole inquiry.

A key member of the US Agricultural Committee Senator Tom Harkin says Australia agreed to rein-in trading monopolies in its free trade agreement and the single desk goes against world trade rules.

Spokesman for Senator Harkin, Dave Townsend, says the US is ready to respond to the Cole inquiry's recommendations.

"Keep in mind this is in the context of the WTO negotiations and I think it's fair to say that everyone is looking to have more transparent and open market through any reform in the WTO and having a monopoly in charge of wheat exports prevents that from happening," he said.

"One thing that's important to note in the United States-Australia free trade agreement that was reached, it was agreed to that monopoly trading entities would be reined in as part of that agreement."