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Since that record year, trade totals have fallen to 16.9 million tonnes in 2017/18, 16.2 million tonnes in 2018/19, 14.6 million in 2019/20 and 13.8 million in 2020/21 . Last year marked the lowest trade total since 2013/14, when 13.2 million tonnes of wheat flour were traded. Flour trade in 2020/21 was severely hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic and related transport issues, the IGC said.
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“The first projected recovery in five years is largely linked to expectations of increased imports by Iraq, from 1.9 million to 2.7 million tonnes, following a sharp drop in domestic wheat production,” the IGC said. “However, with cumulative arrivals reported during the July to October period largely stable year-on-year at around 800,000 tonnes, the forecast may be revised downwards in upcoming updates if the pace does not accelerate in the future.”
On the other hand, imports from Afghanistan, the world's largest flour importer in recent years, are expected to fall from 2.5 million to 2 million tonnes in 2021/22, with accumulated arrivals through October – mainly from Kazakhstan – well behind last season. Both Afghanistan and Kazakhstan are suffering from humanitarian and economic crises, which are undoubtedly affecting the flour trade, although the CIG did not address these issues in its report.
By: Leonardo Gottems | agrolink
